IFLR 1000
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The merger of three of the five leading (and biggest) law firms, H Gamito Couto Gonçalves Pereira Castelo Branco e Associados, MGA Advogados and Furtado Bihka Loforte Popat & Associados (FBLP), into CGA (Couto Graça and Associates) in 2011 is a reflection of the increasing deal flow in the market and demand for capacity from clients.

The appetite for investment into Mozambique in recent years has grown considerably. "There is still a lot of room for development in Mozambique, Angola used to be the focus of all investments and now Mozambique is attracting people, for example Samsung and Hewett Packard are establishing headquarters here and we are getting weekly requests for establishing companies," says a partner.

Possibly the single biggest driver for the country has been the coal mining operations in the north of country, led by investment from Brazilian company Vale, along with the raft of infrastructure and development projects which is accompanying it, among them the construction of a port, of roads and bridges and of the Nacala Railway. The work has also seen an influx of mining service companies.

"There are a number of infrastructure projects and oil & gas is one of the interesting areas now with Vale doing the big mining operations and a US company looking for liquefied natural gas," says a commentator.

Another lawyer adds that "Mozambique itself is quite different to Angola, for instance, it is a combination of being the darling of the international cooperation community and having increased economic activity; we see quite a few new projects with international cooperation such as the electrification of the country." Compared to neighbours the country is certainly "more friendly" and a "more secure place to do business" say clients, "they have lots of bilateral investment treaties, trying to be the good guy and ensuring investments are protected".

New legislation was implemented in April 2011 (though still untested) to introduce new exchange control regulations ostensibly to simplify foreign exchange transactions and to encourage investors to convert assets into Meticals and strengthen the domestic currency. The government was also working on a new mining law and looking at specialist legislation for mega-projects.

GCA is a result of the merger of three of the five firms which were leading the market up to 2011: H Gamito Couto Gonçalves Pereira Castelo Branco e Associados, MGA Advogados e Consultores and Furtado Bihka Loforte Popat & Associados (FBLP).

A few names were lost in the merger but the key lawyers, Pedro Couto, Jorge Graça and Rita Furtado remain. The new firm is now the clear leader in the local market for corporate and commercial advice, providing the broadest expertise and deepest capacity.

A notable loss for the new entity was MGA lawyer Dipak Chandulal, who took with him highly sought after project finance expertise. The firm also sacrificed associations with Portuguese firms PLMJ and Vieira de Almeida (VdA) and the merger may also attract some limitations in terms of potential conflict of interest matters. Nevertheless the new firm is the powerhouse of the local market.

"We used Graça for many years and through the merger the firm is much more attractive for the depth it has, Jorge is very good, MGA had a number of good people, but now they really have the depth especially with lawyers like Furtado, who adds a lot of banking experience," says one client.

In March 2011 Graça advised the borrower in a $59 million financing from an international bank for sugar production project. Couto was engaged by Brazilian company Camargo Correia in its acquisition with Cimpor of a controlling stake in domestic cement company Cinac.

PDA is an established leading firm in the market and peers regularly comment that finance and banking are its key areas of expertise and dominance. "They are doing very well," says one competitor, "they are very well established in the market and especially strong in banking and finance."

The two leading partners led on all the firm's biggest transactions. In 2011 the firm was engaged by a South Africa based investment bank and a US venture capital firm to advise them as sponsors of a $70 million project to develop a natural gas power plant in Mozambique's Manica Province. The advice included negotiations, contract documents, purchase agreements and other matters.

The firm also won a mandate from an electricity company for the $1 billion implementation and financing of a new power transmission line connecting the production centres in the north of the country to the southern industrial zones.

The firm also played a role on Barclays Bank Mozambique's $20 million capital raising exercise, in which it drafted all documents, and assisted a coal company on Mozambican legal aspects related to its $40 million listing on the London Aim market.

SAL & Caldeira provides broad services (legal, tax and financial) from its offices in Maputo, Tete and Beira. Its legal team is most renowned in the mining sector and the firm has been busy recently advising the government on draft legislation for a new mining law.

One mining client highly recommends Sam Levy: "On a level of advice, Levy is probably the leading expert in oil & gas law in Mozambique, when he gets on the phone it could be a New York lawyer or a partner of a magic circle firm, and frankly in sub-Saharan Africa it is amazing." "You have to know everybody and he does," says another client, "you need to deal with a bunch of contacts: oil companies, the Ministry of Energy, there is a whole bunch of admin to do and Sam's team has been fantastic with this, diligently working through documents and digging around."

According to another client, "legislation is often full of grey areas and it's very difficult to give coherent answers but they do the best of a bad job". A partner of a global firm says: "You think you have a problem then your client tells you that Levy is on the case, you just relax and know that everything is going to happen."

The firm won significant mandates from foreign investors, advising one on the local law aspects of a $3.9 billion takeover offer for a company controlling coal concessions in Mozambique, and another in negotiations for a $180 million mining contract with the government.

The firm was also advising a foreign investor on a $150 million project for commercial property and eco-tourism project and helped a group of financiers on a $60 million equipment leasing transaction.

The firm is a well-known player in the market. It has undergone some losses over the past year in terms of staff however consensus is that the firm cannot be discounted and that it continues provide a high level of quality for corporate transactions despite being highly regarded for litigation.

"Still a big player but the quality is more on the litigation side," says one peer, "they are very good in that and they also advise on corporate / commercial." Another peer says the firm "usually has the best lawyers to turn to for corporate/commercial litigation".

The firm, led by Rodrigo Ferreira Rocha and Paula Ferreira Rocha, is slightly smaller than its leading competitors but matches the top firms in terms of quality. It is part of the Africa Legal network (run out of Norton Rose) and is seasoned in assisting global counsel such as Clifford Chance, Norton Rose and Fasken Martineau.

"Paula is one of the best lawyers in Mozambique," says a global client, "she is very pro-active, very client friendly, speaks very good English and has a practical approach to problems". The client adds that the firm has "a good understanding of the expectations of global corporations and knows how to replicate their corporate structures in Mozambique".

Another client, who has used the firm for advice on establishing companies, mining law and telecom deals, says: "their know-how matches the larger firms and the advantage with them is that they are relatively young. We are also used to looking at transactions from a London perspective in terms of deadlines; Portuguese firms have a different sense of urgency but they have a London perspective."

The firm, with support from the Africa Legal network, recently closed a $59 million financing on behalf of a foreign financier for the construction of a sugar production plant in Mozambique and helped a global drilling company establish in the country and provide services to two large coal-mining companies.

The firm was repeatedly mandated by leading domestic banks, in one deal helping to draft a legal memorandum and devise strategies for the implementation of an electronic cash advance system via mobile phone services and in another, providing advice in relation to syndicated financing and the importation of fuel products into Mozambique.

F Castelo Branco & Associados is a Portuguese firm with a recently opened office in Mozambique, adding to its Angola office. Vitor Marques da Cruz and Edgar Faustino lead the team for Mozambique deals.

The firm recently advised AON Mozambique on the regulatory regime in the insurance sector and on its acquisition of Glenrand Mozambique, a significant deal for the newly opened insurance sector and brokerage market. Also in insurance, the firm assisted Sanlam on the incorporation of an insurance company in Mozambique through a joint-venture.

The team was also engaged by Citic Consortium for its acquisition of a Mozambican mining company and Standard Chartered for the establishment of a pledge agreement in order to secure a loan contract.

GLM - Gabinete Legal Moçambique is the new front of leading Portuguese firm PLMJ following its split with MGA Advogadosin 2011. Tiago Mendonça de Castro heads PLMJ's Africa desk while on the ground in Maputo the firm has put together eight experienced lawyers including the very highly respected Tomás Timbane, one of the leading labour lawyers in the country.

Before the establishment of the new office, PLMJ worked on a number of deals, advising Angolan company Unitel on its bid in the tender of Mozambique's third mobile phone operator, and Portuguese company Montaengil in its bid for the concession of the Catembe bridge (Ponta do Ouro) and road section.

Elsewhere, the firm advised Opway on its incorporation in Mozambique and Brazilian company Cimpor in its acquisition with Camargo Correia of a controlling stake in domestic cement company Cinac.

SCAN (Silva Centeio Avillez e Neves) was established by former senior lawyers at MGA Advogados in 2010. It has an association with Portuguese firm Morais Leitão and, according to peers, it has not yet developed a strong presence on the big ticket deals.

"They have good commercial clients," says one peer "and do lots of day-to day assistance on corporate matters for these clients."