About

Number of years practice:

20

Principal practice areas:

Capital Markets, Banking and Finance

Bar admissions:

New York, Argentina

Languages spoken:

English, Spanish, Portuguese (conversant)

Argentine native Carlos T. Albarracín advises domestic and international clients on a broad range of matters involving Latin America, including debt and equity offerings, bank financings, and debt restructurings, with a focus on the oil and gas, power, mining and transportation sectors. A substantial portion of his practice focuses on transactions in Mexico. His recent experience includes representing the lead arrangers in a $2.5bn revolving credit facility for America Movil; Docuformas, a leading Mexican leasing company, in its offering of US$300m 10.250% senior notes (due 2024) and concurrent tender offer for and consent solicitation; Actis in connection with a $900m Reg 144A bond financing for its acquisition of Intergen’s Mexican power-generation assets; the lead arrangers in a $2bn syndicated revolving credit facility for America Movil; the initial purchasers in an inaugural Reg.144A note offering for Kaltex, Mexico’s largest textile company; and a $1.5bn financing for Ternium Investments, guaranteed by Ternium de Mexico, the leading producer of steel products in Latin America. Earlier matters have seen Albarracín act for the lead arrangers on an $800m facility for Ternium de México; for the initial purchasers on a MXP$7.5bn debt issuance by Red de Carreteras de Occidente; and for the lead arranger, book-runner and initial lender, on a MXP$14.5bn debt issuance by Conmex.

What differentiates your Mexico-facing practice from those of your US competitors and peers?

Unlike some of my competitors that have a narrow focus on capital markets and no specific industry focus, my practice focuses on a wide range of capital markets and financing transactions (including acquisition financing) for companies across many industries, but with a special focus on energy and infrastructure.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of advising Mexico-based clients from an office in the United States?

We work regularly on transactions across Latin America, Europe and the US and many of the trends in terms of structure, terms and new legal and financial engineering that we see in Mexico originate in other markets such as the US, Europe or the rest of Latin America. As a well-integrated firm and LatAm platform, Milbank offers Mexican clients sophisticated expertise and proven ability in executing cutting-edge cross-border transactions. We also work seamlessly with the major Mexican law firms that typically work on these complex transactions, so not having boots on the ground is not a disadvantage for us.

What changes in the commercial and/or legal market do you anticipate in the 12 months ahead in Mexico?

I believe Mexico transactions will require more structuring around certain risks (political and regulatory uncertainly, FX volatility) that were not present in Mexico in prior periods. This will require more sophistication, seamless execution and handholding for clients. Because Milbank has a truly integrated Latin American regional practice, we can draw from experience and expertise used in other Latin American markets to address and structure around similar risks.

What influence will legal technology have on US/Mexico working practices in the future?

I believe artificial intelligence will only impact a certain type of more standardized legal work in the Mexican market, but the complex, sophisticated legal work Milbank and other major New York law firms do in Mexico can’t be, at this point, replaced by available artificial technology, so I believe such work will continue to demand our expertise and experience.

What is your perception of in-house counsel’s priorities in terms of client service when working with US-based law firms?

Responsiveness and effective communication seem to be the key priorities. In-house counsel in Mexico are very sophisticated and want to be intimately involved in transactions in close contact and communication with US counsel.