AVM

The firm: AVM Advogados was founded by António Vicente Marques in 2003. The firm originally began assisting clients as a full-service law firm operating through its various offices in Africa and Europe with an integrated team. Today, AVM has expanded and become one of the most modern and internationally respected law offices operating in Angola, Portugal, and Mozambique. The firm delivers corporate and business services to international and local clients in all of these Portuguese-speaking countries. AVM Advogados is a full-service law firm with market-leading strengths in the energy, financial services, real estate, immigration, tax and technology sectors.

Areas of practice
Corporate and commercial: AVM offers clients specialised advice on all aspects of corporate and commercial transactions frequently with a cross-border perspective. Further, the corporate lawyers are involved in several industry sectors including technology, media and telecoms, energy, mining, chemicals, retail and transport. AVM provides to its corporate clients advice and support in various areas including corporate restructuring (including involvement in detailed due diligence processes), company law, corporate governance and other legal and regulatory requirements. Thus, the corporate practice has particular experience in company and group holding incorporation, management buyouts, takeovers, security issues, shareholders agreements, joint venture agreements, outsourcing and all related corporate and tax aspects.

Foreign investment: AVM is particularly experienced in advising all types of investors in respect of the structuring, global planning and implementation of foreign investment projects in markets in which it has offices, in order to minimising the impact of the legal and regulatory requirements applicable in different jurisdictions, optimising resources and related costs and building solid compliance programmes. AVM also offers its clients expert advice on all aspects related to international trade and customs. The international trade team has experience in a wide number of areas connected with international business transactions (ie tariffs, quotas, marking requirements, labelling and standards) and litigation.

Oil and gas: in the oil and gas sector, the firm has represented governments’ sponsors, and investors in large complex projects including privatisation of oil and gas enterprises, the construction of cross-border pipelines, and the negotiation of gas and oil production agreements. The oil and gas lawyers have considerable experience in respect of all aspects of oil and gas matters and projects, from production, processing, refining, trading, storage, transmission, distribution to the point of sale. Further, the team has broad experience in advising on compliance, including explaining what in practical terms is required to comply with the existing legislative framework including environment law.

Banking and finance: AVM has a specialist banking and finance practice in the areas of syndicated lending and leveraged and acquisition finance, asset finance, project finance, financial regulatory, insolvency and restructuring, debt capital markets, equity capital markets, structured debt and structured finance. It also provides legal services to leading investment banks, insurance companies, other financial institutions, private entities and government agencies. AVM lawyers have broad experience in working on all banking and finance matters, such as loan agreements, drafting related security documents, real estate contracts, private equity contracts, structuring joint venture vehicles.

Construction and infrastructure: AVM offers clients specialist advice on all aspects of construction and infrastructure projects. In particular, AVM has advised several construction companies and consortiums on all aspects relating to the development and construction of the most significant infrastructure projects. AVM has also experience in advising on procurement strategy and contract structures as well as handling the negotiation and drafting of construction contracts, professional appointments, development /funding agreements and related documentation.

Telecommunications: AVM’s lawyers work extensively in the telecommunications, media and IT sectors. They have participated in projects of utmost importance in several areas, especially the following: national and international investment transactions in the area of telecommunications (eg structuring joint ventures and acquisition of companies which operate in the area of fixed and mobile networks); consortium agreements for collective licensing; legal structuring of telecommunications companies in the various countries where AVM is based.