IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

As one of Portugal's most well established firms, it is unsurprising that Viera de Almeida maintains its position this year. With the market suggesting that the firm's true strength remains in banking.

One client commends the firm for being "trusted and commercial. We've built up a trust relationship with Almeida. They tend to view from our viewpoint, and they tend to understand the company. They position themselves adequately in terms of how we approach the markets. So they're commercial." Peers agree: "The firm is very active in the capital markets and they've done most of the corporate and securitisation work [in the market]."

2011 also saw the firm open a new office in Angola, with the intention of strengthening its international coverage.

In equity, Helena Vaz Pinto led the firm assisting issuer Reditus on a share capital increase worth €6.9 million made through a public offer of up to €1.6 million in ordinary shares subscription. The transaction is part of Reditus group's bigger strategy on the acquisition of some IT services companies.

Another highlight saw the firm act on the €3.7 million share capital increase of Moza Banco, after Banco Esprito Santo's (BES) 25.1% €7.1 million acquisition of the Mozambican group. A Vieira team led by Pedro Cassiano Santos advised the acquirer BES during the acquisition transaction.

On the debt side, Paula Gomes Freire led the team acting for a consortium of arrangers who subscribed an issue of €300 million floating rate notes by Galp Energia.

In a €1.2 billion securitisation transaction, Santos was called in by arranger JP Morgan and originator Montepio Geral to advise on the Pelican SME no.1 securitisation of revolving credit lines, which responded to the issues by a Portuguese securitisation vehicle Sagres Sociedade de Titularizao de Crditos (STC), in order to fund the purchase of SME assets. It was the first time that credit lines are securitised in the scope of an AAA rated transaction.

Another similar transaction saw Santos involved again advising arranger Deutsche Bank and common representative DB Trustees on the Caravela SME no. 2 programme which corresponds to the asset-backed floating rate notes and residual variable funding note issues by STC, in order to fund the purchase of SME assets originated by BCP. The mandate was worth €4 billion.

In a corporate reorganisation mandate worth €3 billion, a team of partners, including João Vieira de Almeida, Santos, Pinto, and Paulo de Barros Baptista advising the largest Portuguese motorway operator Brisa on the transfer of its main concession, notably all of its corporate debt, to a single purpose and ring-fenced company. As part of the reorganisation process, Brisa and Brisa Finance launched three bond issuances under the relevant EMTN programme.

"De Almeida and Santos are top lawyers," one client says. "I've no doubts that they had an excellent performance and strong participation on their job. When I see them working for us, then I see them essentially being very proactive in terms of following our view. They were efficient."

In banking, in December 2010 a team lead by Santos advised the issuers Banco Espírito Santo de Investimento, Banco Esprito Santo, and the arranger, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in relation to the €50 million updated deeply subordinated notes and four tranches of undated deeply subordinated notes respectively. Both were issued under a €2.5 billion MTN programme and a €20 billion MTN programme respectively.

Vieira de Almeida & Associados' market presence has clearly been recognised by its rivals. "Vieira should be ranked in tier one as well, they're very good," says one. While a client says: "Vieira is one of the most well-known companies here in Portugal, it has been great, there's always someone there available to answer questions."

The firm's technical ability has also drawn clients' attention. "We've been working with them in three transactions, they've been really perfect, we're quite happy with them," says one. "Every time when the issue arrives, the lawyers give us quick answers. We didn't have any issues on the technical side. Absolutely nothing, they're always available for any kind of questions or any doubt we have, or any technical information we're trying to go through, they've been great."

The biggest deal the firm closed at the beginning of 2011 saw a team led by partners Pedro Cassiano Santos, Helena Vaz Pinto and Paulo de Barros Baptista advise on Brisa - Auto-Estradas de Portugal's €3 billion reorganisation. The process involved a transfer of Brisa's main concession to a single purpose and ring-fenced company; a transfer of Brisa's O&M and R&D activities to one of its wholly owned subsidiaries respectively; and the reorganisation of the Brisa Group's operational companies through the creation of intermediate holding companies for each specific area of activity.

On another occasion, Brisa called in the firm again when the managing partner João Vieira de Almeida led the team advising Brisa on the sale of its holding, worth €1.4 billion, in the Brazilian company Companhia de Concessões Rodoviárias (CCR), listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. It was believed to be the largest M&A transaction of the year. "De Almeida is a very good lawyer, he is the owner of the firm, and he has long term expertise in M&A, and he has been working on M&A for 20 years, so I think he is good," says one peer.

When it comes to relationship building, clients are particularly taken with senior associate Rita Marques. "We've a very good relationship, "says one. "We work in the waste management area and Rita asked to go with us on a technical tour of one of our units. Because we've worked in the industry in the last year, she was curious to know exactly what our business is about."

Another mandate saw partner Paulo Olavo Cunha involved in providing continuous legal assistance to PME Investimentos for the restructuring of target companies, through acquiring shareholding stakes or granting credit facilities. PME Investimentos is a public company that manages several public investment funds worth approximately €1.1 million. The purpose of these funds is to invest in projects that support Portuguese economic growth and to strengthen the competitiveness of the country's economy. The mandate was worth €138 million.

Linked in part to its well established and strong banking practice, the project finance team at VdA is well respected within the market and retains its tier one placing this year.

Manuel Protasio is still seen as the firm's key figures and he had a hand in most of the firm's notable mandates last year.

One example saw Protásio and Vanda Cascão lead the team advising Caixa - Banco de Investimento and Caixa Geral de Depósitos on the €300 million financing of a PTA production plant located in Sines Portugal. The plant is owned by Artenius Sines and the construction is on-going since 2008 amounting to an investment of approximately €430 million.

Leading the team at VdA is litigation and arbitration partner Frederico Gonçalves Pereira who has led on most of the firm's restructuring and insolvency mandates. Clients are quick to praise him: "His technical ability is quite good, I would even say excellent, because he's quite competent and he assists us in a very quick and efficient manner," says one. "He is excellent, we use the firm systematically on legal aspects regarding litigation [transactions]."

When it comes to accessibility, clients seem to be quite satisfied with their availability as one says: "We're almost in permanent contact. They're quite accessible to us."

One notable mandate saw Pereira lead the team acting for Nanium (former Qimonda Portugal) in the implementation of the restructuring plan approved within the company insolvency proceedings. The €250 million transaction involved legal support in the negotiation of new commercial agreements with clients; legal advice concerning €50 million of disputed credits, as well as legal assistance in the German insolvency proceedings of Qimonda Holding.

The team's innovation ability also draws clients' attention. "They're quite innovative and assist us," says one client. "They have a traditional way to solve these kinds of problems."

The firm also advised Banco Comercial Português when Pereira led the team in the insolvency proceedings of Alberto Martins de Mesquita & Filhos, a company in the Portuguese contractors business. The mandate was valued in excess of €28 million.