About

Number of years practice:

24

Principal practice areas:

M&A, private equity, projects and energy

Bar admissions:

New York

Languages spoken:

English, Spanish

Antonio Del Pino, global co-chair of Latham & Watkins’ Latin America practice, advises companies, private equity firms, and financial institutions on cross-border acquisitions, divestitures, financings, and restructurings involving Mexico.

Del Pino brings more than two decades of experience navigating complex transactions on behalf of sophisticated clients doing business in Mexico and Mexican companies doing business abroad. He combines keen market insights with bilingual language skills to handle matters across industries, with a particular focus on the infrastructure, energy, and financial services sectors.

He has also served as a member of the United States State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Council of the Americas.

He has received broad recognition as a top transactional lawyer and numerous industry publications have highlighted his client-centric approach as a hallmark of his practice. Del Pino’s honors include being named a leading practitioner by multiple global legal directories.

Recent highlights include advising on IFM in its acquisition of OHL Concesiones, a developer and operator of infrastructure assets throughout Latin America and Spain, including Mexico, for approximately US$2.6bn. He also acted for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec on its purchase of an 80% stake in Enel Green Power’s Mexico-based portfolio of wind and solar assets. He also represented Telefonica in the sale of its Central American operations, including the sale of its Guatemala and El Salvador operations to America Movil and the sale of its Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama operations to Millicom for a total of US$648m and US$1.65bn.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of advising Mexico-based clients from an office in the United States?

The Mexican market has continued to develop over the last several years. Our Latin American/Mexican practice is both global and local in that we are able to bring to the table our global experience and all the innovations and know-how that comes from that experience together with local know-how and experience of having done deals in Mexico for many years.

What changes in the commercial and/or legal market do you anticipate in the 12 months ahead in Mexico?

We are continuing to see a lot of interest from clients in investing in Mexico. Mexico has gone through an unprecedented period of investment in energy and infrastructure. The new Mexican administration has indicated that it wants more investment to achieve its social goals. I am hopeful that some of the uncertainty from the first few months of the new administration will subside to provide the legal certainty necessary for much needed investment in infrastructure.

What influence will legal technology have on US/Mexico working practices in the future?

Technology continues to help us become more efficient and find innovative solutions for clients across borders. At Latham we are the cutting edge of using technology to provide the best service available to our clients.

What is your perception of in-house counsel’s priorities in terms of client service when working with US-based law firms?

I think in house legal counsel are looking develop long term relationships with trusted advisors that have the experience and understanding to provide practical and innovative solutions to their legal challenges.

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