María Cristina Fábrega

Maria Cristina joined Arias in 2016 and has led the Transactional and Financial Department of the Panama office since 2019, areas in which she has developed assisting national and international companies. He has participated in a significant number of complex transactions that have involved multi-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional teams, such as highly complex financing projects; due diligence processes, the structuring and execution of company mergers and acquisitions, examining corporate and contractual aspects; issuance of international bonds, among others. Maria Cristina has extensive experience in cross-border matters with local components of Panamanian law. Likewise, he has provided legal advice to companies in the securities market area, foreign reinsurers, banks, financial entities and investment funds, supporting them with queries regarding the application of Panamanian legislation. He has provided pro bono advice to the World Bank on Panamanian legislation in the "Doing Business" project.

• Maria Cristina was part of the expert´s team that advised Banco Santander in the acquisition financing by H.I.G., Capital of several entities engaged in the logistics business in Latin America. Banco Santander and Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (Bladex) granted a loan of up to $54,375,000.00, in favour of RANSA CORP S.L., a sociedad limitada organized under the laws of Spain as the Borrower, to acquire a group of corporations in the logistics business in Latin America, free of any material liability or contingency and repayment of financial debt. As a part of the transaction, some subsidiaries, such as the one in Mexico, Colombia, and Costa Rica, became Guarantors of the Loan. This financing was part of a complex acquisition structure that involved various stakeholders, parties, and jurisdictions.

• Univar Solutions Inc, is a global chemical and chemical ingredients distributor interested in acquiring regional Chemical company Chemsol. Chemsol's main companies are in Panama and have affiliates in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The M&A Arias regional team assisted the Buyer with identifying risks and coordinating corporate, labor, and tax matters essential to the transaction. Also, with antitrust assessments. The deal consisted of a share purchase of the entire company including the affiliate target companies. Maria Cristina Fábrega led the Panamanian part of this work.

• RelaDyne, Inc., USA's established leader in lubricant, bulk oil, and fuel distributor, acquired Lucalza, a company with operations in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico, and one of Chevron's principal distributors. The acquisition of Lucalza represents the entry of RelaDyne into new markets. Arias acted as regional counsel and led the coordination of due diligence and transactional counselling and local support in all six jurisdictions we operate, including collaboration with Garrigues Mexico, Myers Fletcher Gordon in Jamaica, and Pellerano Nadal in the Dominican Republic.
  As local counsel Maria Cristina, expert in Arias in Panama adviced RelaDyne Inc. in conducting the due diligence to Lucalza Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries, complete due diligence report and SPA.

• The regional team of expert attorneys at Arias acted as legal advisor to Hoshizaki during the acquisition of a 25% stake in Fogel. This transaction is a significant achievement for all stakeholders involved, especially for Hoshizaki, as it marks the beginning of its business growth strategy. ARIAS served as the lead counsel for Hoshizaki, offering legal guidance in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Our team ensured the protection of Hoshizaki's rights during the shares acquisition process.

• Banking
• M&A
• Capital markets: Debt

• Banking
• Financial services
• Insurance

• International Bar Association (IBA)

• Master in International Business Law from the San Pablo CEU University, Madrid, Spain.
• Postgraduate in Commercial Law from the Universidad Latina, Panama.
• Bachelor's Degree in Law and Political Science, from the Santa María la Antigua University, Panama.
• Structural Aspects in the Administration of a Law Firm - Fordham University, 2022