Juan Carlos Serra

His specific experience includes joint-ventures, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, investments and solid experience participating in national and international public bidding, as well as extensive advice in energy, infrastructure and mining projects. 

Has been with Basham, Ringe y Correa, S.C. since 1996 and worked as an international consultant in the private sector lending arm of the Interamerican Development Bank in Washington, D.C.

He is an active member of the Barra Mexicana Association, Institute of Energy Law, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, as well as the International Bar Association.

Recognitions: 

• Recognized by Latin American Energy and Infrastructure Guide as a Leading Lawyer.
• Ranked in Chambers Latin America and Chambers Global as a leading lawyer in Corporate, Energy & Natural Resources, Mergers & Acquisitions and Real Estate.
• Recognized as Latin America´s Leading Lawyer in IFLR 1000 Energy and Infrastructure.
• Named World´s Leading Lawyer by Who´s Who Legal of Mining Lawyers, as well as Who´s Who Legal of Energy Lawyers.
• Ranked in Legal 500 on Energy and Natural Resources.
• Recognized as a prominent lawyer in Energy Law by the international publication Best Lawyers.

• Grupo Gondi: He has provided legal advice to a major paper and packing manufacturer company known as Grupo Gondi, which is part of WestRock Group, one of the most important and leading companies in the world in the paper and packing industry, for a project that consists in the development, construction and operation of a paper manufacturing facility to be located in the Mexican State of Nuevo León, with an investment of approximately USD $300.00 million. The legal advice has included the negotiation of the entire scheme to be implemented for the development of the project including the specific roles of the involved parties and specifically of a consortium that will develop the project. It has also included analysis and implementation of the commercial and regulatory scheme for the operation of the project, as well as for the construction and development of the required infrastructure including all requirements needed from a federal, local and municipal perspective to develop, among others: (i) the power generation plant to be interconnected to the national electric grid; (ii) a water treatment plant to supply and deliver client the required volumes of industrial water for its commercial operations; (iii) the paper manufacturing facility, and (iv) the transmission lines to connect the facility to the national electric grid. The client´s facility is expected to have an annual production of 350,000 tons of paper and, construction of the facility is expected to begin in 2019. The Project consists in building: (i) the largest containerboard machine in México to produce lightweight recycled line board; (ii) a new paper mill for its operations; (iii) a co-generation power plant facility for the supply of electricity to the facility, (iv) an industrial water treatment facility on a site adjacent to the client´s facility, among other additional infrastructure.
• Phillips 66: Legal advice to a client under the name of Phillips 66 regarding its commercial operations in Mexico, specifically regarding activities related to the import of gasolines and diesel from U.S. for its subsequent public sale. Legal advice to client has included the design and implementation of a whole legal and commercial scheme as to import and sale its products in Mexico. Legal advice has also included, but has not been limited to: (i) compliance with all requirements to import and sell its oil products in Mexico, among them the processing of permits from the Energy Ministry and the Energy Regulatory Commission; (ii) implementation of a license and franchise scheme to sell client´s products to final consumers through service stations; (iii) compliance with legislation and regulations as to import gasoline and diesel, including additives and mix such products with the oil products to be sold in Mexico; (iv) implementation of strategies for intellectual property and copyrights, as well as drafting of specific clauses to be implemented in the license and franchise agreements to be use by client with its customers.
• Cogent México, S. de R.L. de C.V.: He has advised a major energy company in United States under the name of Cogent Energy Solutions (“Cogent”) in setting up and running its commercial operations in Mexico. has advised client in its commercial operations in Mexico, mainly by proposing commercial schemes and legal strategies aligned with the Mexican energy legal framework and the new regulations released by the Energy Ministry in 2019 for the import of gasolines and diesel. Advice has helped the company in building commercial strategies to enter and compete in the Mexican energy market. He has provided legal assistance to Cogent for the negotiation of supply agreements to be entered with different clients, which has included the design of the whole legal scheme to be implemented for such purposes, volumes to be sold, places where Cogent´s products will be commercialized, among other matters. Advise has been given in connection with activities regulated by the Energy Regulatory Commission regarding downstream and midstream, specifically for the commercialization of its products.
• Materiales y Equipos Petroleros, S.A. de C.V.: Legal assistance to Matyep, which is a Mexican company operating since 1982 engaged in providing services to the energy industry, specially to oil companies, among them the State-Owned Productive Company known as PEMEX. Matyep basically attends the three major regions in which PEMEX operates. He has provided legal continuous assistance to Matyep over the past years in the implementation of various legal schemes for different services provided by different companies to PEMEX and international energy companies, as well as to enter into different agreements with such companies, among them but not limited to: (i) Joint Ventures; (ii) lease agreements for the supply equipment´s and services for activities related to downstream and midstream; and (iii) services and work agreements for the installation of infrastructure required by PEMEX for its day to day operations. Legal assistance has included negotiating, drafting, reviewing, amending the terms and conditions of the different agreements that Matyep has with a vast range of companies, including PEMEX. Negotiations have implied a high level of complexity, specially those entered with PEMEX. The Firm has additionally provided assistance to client in designing commercial and legal schemes, so client may import equipment’s to be subsequently supply to international companies and/or to PEMEX for their day to day operations. Additionally, the Firm has provided legal advice related to the review, study, negotiation and implementation of various master services agreement for work and services onshore – offshore in favour of a major international energy companies.
• First Solar Energía México, S. de R.L. de C.V.: Legal advice to a major company engaged in sustainable energy development and generation known as First Solar. First Solar has developed, finance, built and operate major photovoltaic plants throughout the world and currently has more than 20 GW modules worldwide positioning itself as one of the biggest leading global provider of comprehensive photovoltaic solar systems with presence in in middle east, India and across Europe. First Solar has begun operations in Mexico mainly engaging in activities related to photovoltaic energy generation by means of major energy projects developed throughout Mexico. Legal assistance has been continuously provided to client for the design and implementation of legal and commercial schemes to develop and construct various photovoltaic energy generation parks throughout the Mexican territory, which has included: (i) engaging in negotiations with land owners for the acquisition and/or leasing of numerous real estate properties for the construction of the referred photovoltaic parks and, in some cases, to participate in the long term electric auctions called by the National Centre of Electric Energy Control (“CENACE”); (ii) engaging in negotiations with agrarian individuals (ejidatarios) and agrarian communities following the legal provisions included in the Agrarian law; (iii) approaching and holding meetings with governmental authorities as to confirm criteria related to the Electric Industry Law and applicable legislation; (iv) carry out all workstream required to obtain from CENACE the interconnection / connection studies and authorizations required to execute clients projects; (v) negotiate different rights of way with those property owners in which the photovoltaic parks will be constructed; (vi) regularization of lands as to ensure that properties comply with the requirements needed to carry out the photovoltaic parks and different projects envisioned by client. Legal assistance has also included advising the client in connection with the seriousness and financial guarantees required by CENACE to participate in the electric auctions, as well as those needed for the interconnection agreements to be signed with distributors of electric energy, including the requirements under the respective standby letters of credit to be issued by the financial institutions for the guarantees.

• Corporate M&A
• Energy 
• PPP/PFI
• Project finance

• Corporate M&A
• Energy
• Projects
• Financial services

• Mexico

• Barra Mexicana Association.
• Institute of Energy Law.
• Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.
• Association of International Petroleum Negotiators.
• International Bar Association.

• Law degree, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico.
• LLM, Georgetown University (Fulbright scholarship).
• Postgraduate degree in corporate and economic law, Universidad Panamericana.
• Diploma in energy law, Universidad Iberoamericana.