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

Garrigues is one of the top Spanish firms for EU competition. "They have a good sense for interweaving politics and law. They are aware of how it works across the Eurozone [and] we get their full attention," says one client, while another adds: "They were very good at identifying what was important and when problems arose they explained and discussed in a non-technical way."

The firm scores well on responsiveness and client care. One client who has engaged a number of the top firms says: "I believe we are more inspired [by] and get more meat on the bone from Garrigues." The firm's US office is also given the thumbs up by a client: "The quality of the team was excellent, [with] expertise in dealing with regulatory and accounting issues."

In one major deal, José Luis Buendía Sierra, who is recommended for providing "strategic legal advice" and being "very well informed and clever", advised the Bank of Spain on state aid rules in the context of public support to Spanish savings banks and filed notifications for a number of mergers in the sector.

Also in the troubled Spanish banking sector, Buendía was engaged by Banco Santander and BBVA among others in an appeal against the Commission's stance on tax cuts for certain banking acquisitions. Another state aid case saw the firm advise the Basque government before the Commission on financial support to develop a digital TV service through the region.

On the other side of the table the firm advised the Commission's legal team in four cases in the prestressed steel cartel investigation.

Though the market recognises Garrigues' strength in equity capital markets work. Peers suggest that the firm needs to improve its debt side practice in order to balance the capital markets offering. "The firm's stronger on the equity side, that's where I recognise them," says one. "They're poor on the debt side, capital markets should capture both."

The firm was kept busy last year for one of its biggest clients Portugal Telecom (PT) in relation to the group's 22.38% acquisition of Oi, worth €3.7 billion. The transaction, headed by Diego Leonidas Rocha, Marta Graca Rodrigues, and Ana de Castro Domingos, involved rights issues executed within the Brazilian market.

The firm also acted for Portugal Telecom last year as Rocha, Rodrigues, Castro Domingos and Gonçalo Castro Ribeiro advised the telecom group on various capital markets issues, including compliance with disclosure obligations after its listing on Euronext Lisbon and the NYSE.

The key lawyer involved on the banking side is Bruno Ferreira who clients single out specifically. One highlight saw him act for Alliance & Leicester on the refinancing of the Pestana Chelsea Bridge Hotel. The cross-border mandate was valued at €22 million.

The largest banking deal completed by the firm last year saw Ferreira teaming up with André Marçalo to advise on Campofrio Foodgroup's €100 million acquisition financing of Cesare Fiorucci.

The team also advised Empark shareholders, on a €42 million additional Capex Facility, following the acquisition of 50% of Cintra Aparcamientos by Empark shareholders.

Garrigues' corporate team is substancial, but some in the market point out that this can lead to differing levels of quality.

One of the biggest mandates completed last year saw Mário Lino Dias advise SOS Corporación on the sale of its 19 Portuguese companies holding 5433 acres of Olive land to the Elaia Group for €91 million.

Garrigues' corporate team is substantial, but some in the market point out that this can lead to differing levels of quality.

One of the biggest mandates completed last year saw Mário Lino Dias advise SOS Corporación on the sale of its 19 Portuguese companies holding 5433 acres of Olive land to the Elaia Group for €91 million.

Garrigues Portugal has been busy on both restructuring and insolvency work this year and maintains its position in the rankings. Although not seen as a particular specialism by the firm, the team has been involved on some decent mandates.

In restructuring, Bruno Ferreira and André Marçalo headed the team advising GE Capital on its restructuring activities in Portugal. Another example saw Susana Pimenta de Sousa work alongside Pedro Lemos Carvalho advising Prosegur - Compañía de Seguridad in relation to its subsidiaries' corporate reorganisation and restructuring. The main purpose of the transaction is to create a single entity capable of delivering integrated and centralised services to all of Prosegur's clients.

On the insolvency side, João Duarte de Sousa and Miguel Azevedo teamed up to advise Banco Privado Português (BPP) on its insolvency proceeding, which involved Garrigues providing advice to BPP's Liquidation Committee on all procedures required for the liquidation. The mandate followed an unsuccessful effort by the Portuguese Finance Ministry to keep the private bank afloat through a government-guaranteed loan.

Garrigues' strength within the capital markets is on the debt and securitisation side, which again this sees them ranked as a tier-one firm in these areas.

On the securitisation side, a clear sign of the team's strength was their advice on a new scheme within the electricity sector, linked to the government's tariff changes. In order to resolve the Spanish tariff deficit for the electric companies, a securitisation fund programme has been carried out by the firm with Javier Ybáñez and Gonzalo García-Fuertes Iglesias advising a fund management company on the implementation of the Fondo de Titulización del Déficit del Sistema Eléctrico (FADE - a securitisation fund) worth €22 billion, with a possible extension to €25 billion.

Iglesias was picked out specifically by a number of peers who recognise that he has a lot of potential. "He's a young partner in the firm, probably not fully-experienced yet, not with a heavy background of experience yet, but he knows what he's doing," says one.

Ybáñez and Iglesias also advised on a €4 billion securitisation transaction which involved a transfer of a Spanish FTA, a securitisation fund, of mortgage loans originated by Barclays. Two series of covered bonds issuances were set to close before the securitisation programme in order to free the collateralised loans for the transaction.

Other work included a covered bonds issuance worth €1.6 billion which saw Iglesias lead the team advising on the securitisation deal of covered bonds issued by Banco Pastor, Banco Caixa Geral, Caja Laboral Popular and Catalunya Caixa. This was the first Spanish covered bonds issue where an issuer implies the amortisation of the bonds that they have subscribed.

In February 2011 José Luis Palao and Ignacio Corujo led the team advising co-issuer Red Eléctrica Corporación on the issuance of €600 million notes due 2018 under an EMTN programme.

The firm also has a solid track record on the equity side as one peer says: "Garrigues, Freshfields and Linklaters are probably our most common counter parties [during the transactions]."

One substantial rights offering transaction saw a team of partners, including Fernando Vives, Iglesias, and Eduardo Abad, advise BBVA on the €5 billion share capital increase through rights issue and listing of the new shares on the Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao Stock Exchanges. This capital increase was one of the largest made by a Spanish bank and the biggest of 2010.

Another highlight saw Fernando Vives and Álvaro López-Jorrín lead the team advising International Consolidated Airlines Group, a holding company of Iberia and British Airways, on its LSE listing as well as the listings on the Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao Stock Exchanges. The mandate, closed in January 2011, valued at €7.9 billion.

In line with the market, the firm was also involved in the savings banks' restructuring process. Leading the team were partners Ybáñez and Ramón Girbau who advised a group of savings banks, including Caixa d'Estalvis de Catalunya; Caixa d'Estalvis de Tarragona and Caixa d'Estalvis de Manresa, on the issuance of 12,500 perpetual preferred shares worth €1.25 billion, subscribed by FROB, a Spanish public fund for the restructuring of the financial sector. The purpose of the transaction was to merge the three savings banks and reinforce their equity capital base.

Ybáñez drew praise due to his broad experience in equity. "He has a lot of experience because he has been working for many many years doing this type of work. He's very practical and supportive," says one peer. "He's fine in sitting down and talking through issues and trying to find common solutions without spending days and days fighting with [each other], which is good." While another peer also says: "For me Ybáñez is the most outstanding equity capital markets lawyer in Spain, he has been in capital markets for many years, he's a very experienced lawyer."

Elsewhere a €800 million share issuance from Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Córdoba (CajaSur) was advised on by Ybáñez, with a hope to restructure the savings bank. The issue was again subscribed by FROB.

Garrigues was dropped down one tier this year due to a number of peers suggesting that the firm has "inconsistent quality of its partners" when compared to its closest rival Uría Menéndez. "It depends on the team, because Garrigues has a big team. They've got excellent people, they've got good people and then they also have regular people," says one peer. "They would provide tier-one service if they were all good people, otherwise they would be tier two." While another adds: "Garrigues has lots of deals, but it doesn't have the homogeneous quality that Uría has. I don't think Garrigues is equal in terms of deals, qualities and clients as Uría."

Though Spain has experienced lots of difficulties due to the current debt crisis, Garrigues has still managed to pick up a number of substantial mandates. One of the largest saw a team of lawyers, including Fernando Vives, Álvaro López-Jorrín, Ignacio Corujo and Felipe Quintero, advise Iberia on its merger with British Airways resulting in the creation of a holding company IAG, one of the world's largest airline groups. The cross-border transaction was valued at approximately €6.5 billion and closed in January 2011.

Managing partner Fernando Vives is well respected by clients. "I like Fernando Vives very much, he's great to work with, and he's the guy you feel you can trust," says one. "He's very sharp, very intelligent and very nice to work with. He knows his job and he tries to defend his clients." While another one adds: "In the last year, he has demonstrated to the market that he's an excellent lawyer."

Another acquisition mandate worth €5 billion saw Fernando Vives, Gonzalo García-Fuertes and Jose Luís Ortín work together advising BBVA on the 24% share capital acquisition of the Turkish bank Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, as well as the agreement with Garanti shareholders.

Elsewhere Ángel Calleja Crespo, Javier Ybáñez Rubio and Renata Mendaña Navarro teamed up to advise Liberty on its acquisition of a stake in Prisa, and the transaction was valued at €1.1 billion.

In the energy sector, a team led by Rafael González Gallarza, José L Ortín, Daniel Armesto and Antonio Matute advise Iberdrola on the 99.68% acquisition of Elektro Electricidade e Servicos, a Brazilian electricity distribution company. The €1.8 billion mandate aims to expand Iberdrola's operations into Latin America. "Gallarza is a good lawyer and he's very active," says one peer. "Rafael is very active in doing savings banks and renewable related [M&A] transactions," says one peer.

Garrigues no doubt has a strong market presence in project finance and peers recognise the firm's focus and track record. However the practice suffered a blow in September 2011 when lead partner José Guardo left to join Clifford Chance. The market will wait to see how the firm reacts.

The team's main focus is advising lenders, and this is be backed by its list of mandates. The biggest deal at the firm last year came in the energy infrastructure area where the team, including Gaspar Atienza, Jon Goirigolzarri and Julio Robledo, advised the lenders on the financing of an underground gas storage system on the northern coast of Castellon, Spain. The transaction was valued at €1.7 billion.

Another highlight saw the recently departed Guardo work together with Aida González acting for a group of lenders, including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Corporate Bank Netherland in relation to the financing of two 50MW thermoelectric solar plants in Spain. The deal involved two senior credit facility agreements with one valued at €177.6 million and the other €175 million.

Guardo again advised another Spanish thermoelectric solar plant mandate when he led the team acting for the lenders on the €212 million financing of a 50MW plant.

At the beginning of 2011, a group of banks again called in the team to advise on the €16 million financing of a public concession for the construction and build-up of a hospital in Madrid.

Garrigues, like peers Cuatrecasas and Uría is active in all forms of restructuring and insolvency work and continues to be seen as one of the market leaders.

One substantial in-court transaction saw a team of lawyers, including Antonio Fernández Rodriguez, Josep Ensesa and Juan Verdugo, advise Imgina - Mediapro in relation to its in-court restructuring amounting to over €1 billion in total. Imagina is a group of companies operating in the communication industry, with a focus on football rights management.

Another notable in-court mandate, closed in November 2010, saw Rodriguez working together with Adrián Thery advising on a €70 million in-court insolvency proceeding following the restructuring of an LBO.

There were more insolvency mandates to come with Verdugo again involved working alongside Thery in an approximately €100 million mandate in relation to the Spanish travel and transport businesses player Viajes Marsans' insolvency case. The duo advised a group of creditors including Santander, Banesto and Banif.

Elsewhere Borja García-Alamán led the team advising the venture capital fund Ahorro Corporación Desarrollo (ACD) on the pre-insolvency and insolvency proceedings of Musgo Distribución. ACD is a controlling shareholder of Musgo, a retail business with almost 300 workers.