Mattos Filho took a significant blow in August 2010, when partner Carlos Barbosa Mello left the firm to join Linklaters alliance partner Lefosse. Mello, who is described by one peer as: "Very senior; extremely well known," took a team of 15 other lawyers with him including fellow partner Rodrigo Azevedo Junqueira, and the market will wait to see how the firm reacts....
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Mattos Filho took a significant blow in August 2010, when partner Carlos Barbosa Mello left the firm to join Linklaters alliance partner Lefosse. Mello, who is described by one peer as: "Very senior; extremely well known," took a team of 15 other lawyers with him including fellow partner Rodrigo Azevedo Junqueira, and the market will wait to see how the firm reacts. The move is a latest in a series of partner departures from established Brazilian firms to often smaller operations that have an alliance with an international firm.
Despite this setback, the firm can still point to a decent deal list last year, on both the banking and capital markets sides.
IPOs threw up a lot of work for the firm , and in particular partner Sergio Spinelli Silva Jr, who advised on both the Petrobras and Arezzo Indústria e Comércio offerings, which raised R$565 million ($348 million) and R$120 billion respectively. The team also acted for the underwriter on the primary and secondary offering of shares in Banco do Brazil, which raised R$9.7 billion.
On the debt side, Jose Eduardo Carneiro Queiroz and Marina Anselmo Schneider were kept busy acting on both underwriter and issuer clients. In the former category, the pair acted for Commerzbank and HSBC Securities on a $1 billion notes issue by Banco Industrial e Comercial. The team also acted for the issuer BM&FBovespa in its $612 notes issue on the Brazilian Stock Exchange.
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As in banking, Mattos Filho maintains its strong tier two position this year. The firm increased its focus on the area at the end of 2010 with the creation of a new infrastructure practice consisting of lawyers specialising in project finance, oil & gas and energy....
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As in banking, Mattos Filho maintains its strong tier two position this year. The firm increased its focus on the area at the end of 2010 with the creation of a new infrastructure practice consisting of lawyers specialising in project finance, oil & gas and energy.
Peers have a healthy respect for the practice: "If conflicted, I would give the work to Mattos Filho," says one, while partner Marina Schneider, who advises on both banking and project finance work, is also held in high-regard: "We worked with her on several deals; very experienced, a rising star. Also, for project finance, she works with a lot of banks," says another competitor.
Like many of its peers the firm also picked up a role on the Belo Monte hydroelectric project. The team is advising Camargo Correa on the proposed R$25 billion ($15 million) financing for the 11,000MW dam.
Advising on the deal were partners Lauro Celidonio and leading lawyer Pablo Sorj, with the latter also acting as lead counsel to energy company MPX Pecém II Geração de Energia and its sponsor MPX Energia as it secured R$987 million of financing from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and BNB for a 360MW coal-fired power plant in the state of Ceará.
In an interesting project in the research and development area, Sorj again took the lead advising General Electric on the finance and development of a new $400 million development centre in Rio.
Other highlights include the firm's work on a $1.5 billion ethanol pipeline project, which will transport up to 40% of ethanol production from Brazil's southern region. The firm advised Odebrecht Transport, Uniduto Logística, Cosan and Copersucar in regard to corporate, construction and regulatory matters in the joint venture, incorporated with Petrobras and Camargo Correa. The deal closed in February 2011.
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Mattos Filho Veiga Filho Marrey Jr e Quiroga is one of the few Brazilian firms with a specialised M&A practice. The firm seperated its M&A, banking and capital markets teams 15 years ago and has since grown into one of the most active players in the Brazilian M&A and private equity market....
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Mattos Filho Veiga Filho Marrey Jr e Quiroga is one of the few Brazilian firms with a specialised M&A practice. The firm seperated its M&A, banking and capital markets teams 15 years ago and has since grown into one of the most active players in the Brazilian M&A and private equity market.
The firm has recently experienced some turnover. Maurício Negri Paschoal and Heber Gomes do Sacramento joined Pinheiro Guimarães in December 2010. In January 2010, Paula Vieira de Oliveira and Marcelo Sampaio Góes Ricupero were promoted to partner. A competitor describes the firm's M&A attroneys as "good people to work with".
In July 2010, the firm advised the Brazilian healthcare provider Qualicorp in relation to its acquisition by The Carlyle Group private equity firm for $1.2 billion.
Other notable work includes advising the financial services firm CETIP Balcão Organizado de Ativos e Derivativos in relation to its acquisition of 100% of the corporate capital of GRV Solutions, valued at $1.3 billion. The deal closed in December 2010 and included a public offering of $553 million in debentures.
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