Established firm
Mattos Filho is one of the largest in Brazil with five offices: two in São Paulo, and one each in Campinas, Rio de
Janeiro and Brasília. It also has a physical international presence with offices in London and New York.
The firm is strong across all practice areas covered by the rankings. It is a top-tier transactional practice.
The banking team advises both borrowers and lenders in
numerous industries, but most notably the financial services and fintech industries. The group also works on debt restructuring, credit facility agreements and project finance transactions.
The capital markets team works on debt, equity, and securities regulation transactions on both the issuer and underwriter side.
The investment fund team is notable as it is a dedicated team, regularly advising on novel issues and the uses of complex funds.
The M&A team has a variety of experience working for public and private strategic buyers, private equity buyers and sellers in acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures across all industries.
The
projects team works on energy and infrastructure projects,
representing developers and financial sponsors.
The firm
maintains strong relationships with many of the world’s largest banking groups, including SoftBank, HSBC
Brasil, Barclays Bank, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, IDB and Goldman Sachs. Other key clients include Petrobras, Klabin, Avon Group, Allianz Group, BP, Equinor and Pátria Investimentos.
Research period review: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
Over the research period the firm was active in
banking,
capital markets, M&A,
projects and restructuring and insolvency.
The banking team worked with international development banks and financial institutions on complex financing transactions in the infrastructure sector.
In capital markets, the firm was active on the equity side, advising issuers and underwriters on IPOs and secondary offerings, some of which were linked to sustainability goals.
The M&A team
advised acquirers, sellers and merger parties in
significant private and public acquisitions and joint ventures. Energy, oil and gas, consumer goods and services and industrial and manufacturing are some of the
myriads of sectors the firm was involved in.
The projects team worked
on the development and finance side.
It advised EPC contractors and project companies on various renewable energy projects. The project finance team advised on financing matters with complex ESG components.
In restructuring and insolvency, the team
advised creditors
almost exclusively on debt restructurings and
cross-border bankruptcy proceedings.
Deal highlights: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
Apollo Global Management
$1.5 billion
investment in New Fortress Energy
Atacadão
$1.4 billion acquisition of Walmart
Brasil
Constellation Group $883 million debt restructuring
Embraer/Zanite Acquisition Corp $2.9 billion merger
Mendubim Solar Power Plant project
Client feedback: 33rd edition (2022/2023)
“Knowledgeable and insightful.”
“The senior team has extensive experience, and they are very technical and business-forward.”
“The quality of the work
provided technical level of the team (impeccable)and the promptness of the team to respond to questions and meeting requests.”
“Diligent, competent, best service to the client and negotiation experts.”
“They have project finance deals experience and full availability.”
Project development: Energy
“They offer very refined technical capacity, focused on problem solving. The team focuses on the issue, paying attention to all the details of the case, always seeking the best solution.”
Project development: Infrastructure
“Mattos Filho is involved in all high-profile deals in the infrastructure segment in Brazil. Their partners are hand-on and have a great response time. Since Mattos Filho is the only firm in which the infrastructure practice is segmented into different niches, their experience and coverage is impressive. By far, they are the leading firm in terms of revenue and market coverage.”
“Client-focused and commercially minded. Pragmatic approaches to complex problems. Committed to deal success.”
“Exceptional performance, wide-ranging legal
knowledge and great understanding of the client's needs, always trying to look beyond the obvious. Extremely responsive and accessible.”
“In 2022, Alexandre
Arlota led several negotiations for the implementation of greenfield projects. Among other high-profile contracts, Alexandre was the lead partner in the negotiation of construction contracts for transmission lines. His work is outstanding. He can deal with the most complex commercial and technical issues and is always available. He is our go-to lawyer for everything related to project development.”
“Knowledge,
speed and attention.”
“Hands-on and detail focused. Extremely sharp and able to convey complex issues clearly and effectively.”
“Objectivity, transparency and hands-on.”
“He is an expert in M&A and negotiation.”
