Uría Menéndez

The firm: Uría Menéndez is one of the most prestigious independent law firms in the Iberian market. Founded in the 1940s, it comprises 130 partners, and over 400 associates in 12 offices in the most important financial centres in Europe and the Americas.

The firm’s international structure allows it to provide Spanish, Portuguese and EU legal advice to clients on their investments in the Iberian Peninsula and abroad.

The firm focuses on banking and capital markets, company and commercial, environment, litigation and arbitration, infrastructures, project finance, private equity, telecommunications, EU and competition, intellectual property, labour, tax, maritime, transport, logistics and real estate.

Areas of practice
Banking and finance: We have extensive experience advising on Spanish and Portuguese law, as well as English law through the Financing Hub, a bilateral group created in collaboration with Slaughter and May. Our strong international focus is reinforced by our presence in all the main financial centres (London, New York and Brussels) and in Latin America through PPU’s offices in Chile, Colombia and Peru.

We work with borrowers and lenders (or buyers and sellers in the case of NPAs) to find truly balanced solutions and support the market’s main players (banks, funds, real estate investment trusts, listed companies, large corporate groups, infrastructure and energy funds and asset-management platforms) in all types of financing.

Capital markets: With our extensive experience and capacity for dialogue with the main regulatory authorities, we can provide advice of the highest calibre to issuers, selling shareholders, investment banks, private equity firms, financial advisers and offerors and companies affected by takeovers.

Among all the firms in the Iberian Peninsula, our multidisciplinary team and practice is unparalleled in its balanced representation of issuers and underwriters, winning us credibility and recognition in the market

Company law and corporate governance: Our knowledge of domestic and international markets and capacity to provide advice on all aspects of market practice in company law, including in highly regulated sectors, enable us to support boards, proactively manage risks and protect business interests by implementing sustainable frameworks.

Our team is made up of experts in company law who provide advice on all stages of the company life cycle.

Competition and EU law: Our specialist lawyers share an in-depth understanding of the regulations and leverage extensive experience liaising with the competition authorities and advising our clients on how to realise their business strategies.

In a constantly changing environment, we offer advice that is technically sound and guaranteed to be of the highest quality, both on the traditional strategic sectors and the new digital economy.

Copyright: Our solid track record with domestic and international players in the information technology, broadcasting, entertainment and cultural industries has given us a thorough understanding of the sector and regulations. We deliver valuable solutions that pursue our clients’ objectives and defend their interests.

We work with a wide range of clients, from literary publishers and newspapers to audiovisual producers, as well as museums, art galleries, cultural foundations, radio and television organisations, information technology companies, digital platforms and telecommunications operators.

Corporate crime and internal investigations: We specialise in economic criminal litigation and pursue the interests of large corporations and management teams in the main economic sectors, assisting them to develop well-informed risk-management strategies that encompass effective corporate governance and robust anti-corruption frameworks.

This includes conducting internal investigations and implementing and reviewing compliance programmes that respond to legal obligations and reputational considerations, all while providing comprehensive solutions that protect business interests.

Digital economy: Our multidisciplinary team takes a 360º approach to tackling the legal questions that technology raises in corporate transactions and litigation, including the intellectual property, employment, tax and competition law aspects. We work together to offer our clients creative and pragmatic solutions.

What sets us apart and ensures all aspects of our clients’ projects are covered is our passion for innovation, our commitment to continual learning and our tireless academic efforts.

Employment: Our specialist lawyers use their comprehensive understanding of business, academic vocation and first-hand experience in the labour and social security authorities to support the human resources departments of large and medium-sized companies in all aspects of employment and social security law.

We also advise on employment issues that arise in the context of mergers, acquisitions, transfers of undertakings and outsourcing.

Energy and natural resources: When it comes to tackling regulatory, financial or business challenges, our team specialises in the needs of the energy, mining and raw materials industries and understands all angles of the issues involved.

Environment and sustainable development: Our multidisciplinary team has more than 25 years’ experience and offers both preventive and corrective advice on environmental matters. We are in a position to establish a dialogue with public bodies and the main regulatory authorities, which allows us to closely follow developments affecting our clients’ interests.

We advise corporate groups whose activities have an environmental impact, regardless of their sector, and entities participating in M&A transactions raising environmental issues.

Financial regulation: Our team is highly specialised, client-focused and capable of handling all areas of financial regulation to provide first-class technical advice for both the Ibero-American and international markets. We are in continual contact with the supervisory authorities and our experience enables us to offer an innovative and practical approach.

Healthcare and life sciences: We are experts in the healthcare, life sciences and chemicals sectors (medicines, food, cosmetics, mixed categories) and take a multidisciplinary approach covering a range of angles: corporate and contractual, administrative and regulatory, competition law, intellectual property, M&A and compliance.

We advise clients from the start of their activity and throughout the research, development, manufacturing, commercialisation and advertising cycle of their products and services. Our knowledge of the market enables us to provide first-rate legal advice that is pragmatic and tailored to each individual case.

IP and unfair competition: What sets us apart is our close relationships with clients, built on a wealth of experience and a thorough understanding of the technical, practical and commercial problems that arise in their regulatory environments and when pursuing their long-term strategies.

We are known for our role in developing doctrine through academic publications that have been accepted and relied upon by courts, as well as for our rigorous analysis and innovative approach to delivering solutions.

Receiving commercially savvy advice is vital for the most innovative and efficient companies – it can prove to be the difference in difficult cases and plays a key role in monetising R&D&I and designing new business strategies.

We advise clients spanning the main strategic sectors on a broad range of matters: pharmaceuticals, chemicals, automobiles, electronics, cosmetics, textiles, defence, services (telecommunications, software, media, banking and finance, public works), food and beverages, farming (plant varieties) and commerce (e-commerce, consumer goods and retail).

Infrastructure projects: Our versatile team of lawyers provides multijurisdictional advice through our network across the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. Our comprehensive understanding of business and fluid dealings with the regulatory bodies enable us to anticipate the challenges associated with each type of infrastructure, actively participate in preparing draft legislation, and design innovative contractual solutions.

We advise public authorities, construction groups, developers and lenders on all types of issues and help businesses execute those that are particularly complex, ranging from public-infrastructure projects and concessions to public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI), doing so at every stage of the value chain.

Insolvency and financial distress: Our experience tackling business issues and our multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional capabilities enable us to coordinate and manage each matter to optimise processes and ensure the right knowledge and resources are in place so that our clients’ interests are always protected.

Market confidence in our abilities has seen us advise many of the leading Ibero-American financial entities, distressed-debt funds and investors, alternative financiers and distressed businesses on a number of the most important matters in this area.

Insurance and reinsurance: Our multidisciplinary capabilities, extensive experience and in-depth knowledge of the insurance industry enable us to support clients faced with a complex regulatory framework, challenging market conditions and digitalisation programmes, and major changes to distribution channels. We tackle the legal and business issues that can arise when designing and executing corporate and financing transactions, along with regulatory and commercial strategy issues to reinforce market share, capital position and commercial performance.

Our team is made up of expert lawyers who handle all legal aspects of insurance and reinsurance in litigation and commercial, tax, employment, data protection, administrative and competition law.

International arbitration: Our team of specialist lawyers from nine different jurisdictions is able to work in seven languages and apply all the main international rules. We represent companies and high-net-worth individuals before the world’s main arbitral tribunals (the CCI, LCIA, Swiss Courts, CIADI, CAM, CIMA and Spanish Arbitration Court) and in ad hoc arbitrations.

Internet and privacy: Our in-depth knowledge of the digital environment and technologies such as big data, AI, apps and social networks enables us to meet the needs of companies no matter their sector.

We assist our clients with all aspects of data protection and cyberspace.

Litigation: Clients trust our reputation for rigorous, sophisticated, and above all practical advice in all types of proceedings and arbitrations on business-related matters. We set the standard and stand apart in the market.

We carry out a detailed overall analysis of each matter to offer the most effective and appropriate solution to achieve the client’s objectives, providing the necessary resources and team to handle the litigation, but also exploring every possible avenue to resolve the dispute out of court.

We are leaders in multijurisdictional legal defence and appear before all Spanish and Portuguese courts, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as all domestic and international arbitral tribunals.

Our strong presence in Latin America (in Chile, Colombia and Peru) and our Best Friends network in Europe enable us to provide first-class advice to companies, high-net-worth individuals and family businesses.

M&A:  We offer comprehensive advice that takes a multidisciplinary approach, placing our experience across all areas of law and unparalleled working standards at the disposal of our clients. They can rely on lawyers with training in finance and business – as well as chaired university professors of commercial, civil and employment law – to address all legal and business aspects of their activity.

We tailor our teams to each transaction with lawyers from other practice areas to ensure the advice we deliver covers all aspects of M&A transactions, no matter the sector and whether they are domestic or cross-border. Our established presence in finance and industry enables us to provide the highest-quality advice on how to design, implement and execute transactions and achieve business objectives.

Knowing our clients and their businesses means we can anticipate the impact that changes in legislation and case law will have in their field and offer creative and innovative solutions to complex problems.

We invest long-term in our relations with clients and accompany them through each transaction with top-quality advice and a practical, efficient and creative approach.

Media, sport and leisure: We advise on the corporate governance, commercial contracting, regulatory and consumer relations aspects of large corporate transactions in these sectors.

We assemble teams of multidisciplinary lawyers based on the approach and strategy necessary in each case to offer tailored solutions, efficiently manage risks and pursue business objectives. Our resources and wide-ranging international experience allow us to accompany our clients step by step through their cross-border projects, collaborating with the top specialists in each jurisdiction.

Our track record in sports law has earned our team a reputation for excellence in added-value transactions and particularly complex cases. We are there to support companies, clubs, national and international federations, leagues, event organisers and athletes, as well as financers, sponsors, major sporting equipment brands, broadcasters and audiovisual rights holders.

Private equity: Our clients benefit from the experience of leading lawyers across all areas of law: corporate, contractual, finance, tax, employment, regulatory, environment, public, IP, IT, data protection, capital markets (both ECM and DCM), litigation and arbitration. We have private equity specialists throughout the firm, enabling us to organise multidisciplinary teams quickly and efficiently to handle both purely domestic transactions in Spain and Portugal and those with a cross-border component.

Over the last 40 years we have advised the majority of the main funds on their investments and divestitures across all sectors. We understand the risks and requirements involved in private equity and our strong presence in finance and industry enables us to provide funds and their management teams with the highest-quality advice on designing, implementing and executing transactions so that they can achieve their business objectives.

We accompany our clients through each phase of the private-equity investment cycle, from fund structuring and fund raising to equity and debt investment, R&W insurance, senior management incentives, recaps, build-ups and divestitures (trade-sale, secondary, IPO). We invest long-term in our relations with clients and tie ourselves to their success, always offering a practical, efficient and creative approach.

Public law: Our specialist team assists contractors and concessionaires of infrastructures and services in their relations with public bodies, advising companies in heavily regulated and industrial sectors, foreign companies – including investment funds – making bids in Spain and Portugal, and Ibero-American companies when they are carrying out infrastructure and public services projects abroad.

Our academic standing, our close relationships with the main players and professional and industry associations, and our capacity to foster dialogue with public bodies and regulators mean that we are best placed to propose novel solutions for public projects and public-private partnerships.

Real estate and planning: Our in-depth understanding of our clients’ activities and objectives, excellent knowledge of the law and the market, creativity and capacity to organise multidisciplinary teams enable us to offer alternative solutions for real estate and planning transactions.

We work with the main players in the real estate market (investment funds, asset managers and local partners, real estate investment trusts and owners of all types of assets, real estate developers and banks) to design and implement their projects.

Tax: We are equipped to handle the most complex aspects of tax law, with many of our lawyers dual qualified in law and business administration. Our clients also benefit from the insights provided by two ex-tax inspectors and a PhD in Law.

We provide multidisciplinary advice to large corporations, financial entities, private equity and investment funds, majority shareholders of large companies and family groups.

Our international dimension enables us to advise any client with an international presence on Spanish, Portuguese or EU law, with a special focus on the Latin American market where we provide local advice through PPU’s offices in Chile, Colombia and Peru.

Transport and mobility: Transport, logistics and mobility form the backbone of the current economic, social and business environment. The result is a dynamic and complex regulatory framework that requires an all-encompassing approach to legal advice and transactional support.

Our multidisciplinary and versatile team knows how to design and implement regulatory and financing structures, execute corporate and infrastructure transactions, and manage risks in the maritime, aviation, rail, logistics and urban-mobility sectors of the main Ibero-American markets.