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Goodrich Riquelme y Asociados closed a good number of deals in banking, finance and the capital markets last year but it was kept especially busy with financing mandates thanks to partner Jorge Sánchez.

Sánchez brought two interesting transactions to close in March 2011 despite the uncertain business environment. The first was for Phoenix Capital and Phoenix Packaging de México, which the firm helped secure a syndicated loan agreement with Citigroup Global Markets and JPMorgan Securities. The two US finance houses made a pool of $80 million available to three companies, including Phoenix, in what was a relatively complex cross-border deal.

The second was for Trafigura Beheer, where the firm advised its subsidiary Cormin on a $200 million secured loan from BNP Paribas to finance the company's non-ferrous concentrates purchases from third party suppliers. However, possibly one of the firm's highlights was still ongoing. The firm advised a confidential global technologies company on a secured lending agreement for over $100 million to allow the company to purchase network equipment and provide a telecom service.

Not to mislead, the firm also won mandates from lenders, among them a large development finance institution.

Sánchez was again ubiquitous on the project finance side. In one deal, he led a team which included José Antonio Butron Quintero to advise the Mexican subsidiary of a global holding company on the financing for the development of one of the largest and most important mining concessions in the country for iron ore. The project will be the largest iron ore project in Michoacán and, though still ongoing, financing of $100 million was expected.

The firm has a large waste water project on the horizon.

M&A was slightly slower last year compared to banking and financing for Goodrich Riquelme y Asociados, however the firm did close two notable deals in early 2011, which gave it a good boost.

Riding a current trend in Mexico, senior partner Ricardo Lan led a team including junior partner Carlos Moran to advise a global car parts manufacturer on the acquisition of a Mexican foundry. The transaction itself was very complex, covering many areas of law from the acquisition agreement into litigation, labour law, environmental law and competition law. It was signed in April 2011 for $40 million.

An even higher value deal and probably the firm's best M&A mandate, saw a team including Jorge Sánchez, Edgar Martínez Herrasti and José Antonio Butrón Quintero, among others, advise Nyrstar on its acquisition of a TSX listed company and one of the leading zinc and iron-ore concentrates producers in the world. The firm worked alongside Canadian firm Fraser Milner Casgrain and closed the deal for $200 million in January 2011.