About

Number of years practice:

30

Principal practice areas:

Domestic and cross-border investment and finance, and leveraged lending and bank finance for REITs and other real estate companies

Bar admissions:

New York

Languages spoken:

English

Malcolm K. Montgomery’s wide involvement at a leadership level within Shearman & Sterling sees him head the firm’s real estate practice, real estate investment trust (REIT) industry group and hospitality, leisure and gaming industry group. Montgomery assists clients with construction loans, mezzanine loans and credit facilities. His financings often involve multiple assets, multiple countries and multiple currencies. He has longstanding experience in Mexico, making FIBRA financings a particular area of focus in his practice. A contributor to The Real Estate Finance Journal, Real Estate Finance, and Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law, Montgomery has also written for the American Law Institute. He is a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, member of the Real Estate Board of New York, member of Shearman & Sterling’s Latin America Affinity Group and an advisory board member of the Northeast Chapter of the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce.

Montgomery has been involved in notable cases with clients in the diversified financial services sector, including advising Citibank, N.A. as administrative agent in connection with a US$290m senior unsecured term loan for FIBRA Prologis. He has also advised Metropolitan Life Insurance Company on many cases, including in connection with a US$130m secured loan to a joint venture between Kerzner International and Investment Corporation of Dubai to finance the One & Only Palmilla Hotel located in Los Cabos. He has additionally represented Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in connection with a US$115m secured loan to Desarrollo Reforma Capital 250, S.A.P.I. DE C.V. secured by an office building in Mexico City.

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

I have over 20 years of experience handling numerous cross-border financing transactions in Mexico involving both single lenders and large lending syndicates. My broad practice covers all real estate asset sectors and includes innovative construction loans, term loans and corporate credit facilities for FIBRAs. I have also advised clients on workouts and restructurings involving significant industrial, retail, hotel and resort properties throughout Mexico.

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

One of our greatest advantages is our ability to tap into a superb network of expert local counsel. These firms are not available to the US firms that compete in the local Mexico legal market. We have exceptionally strong relationships with the leading real estate and finance firms in Mexico. Additionally, we maintain relationships with clients in Mexico that we also represent on market-leading transactions in the United States. One benefit of the cross-border nature of our practice is that it allows us to apply the sophisticated deal structures we have developed in the US to our deals in Mexico. A good example of this was our work representing the lenders on the first-ever syndicated corporate credit facility for a FIBRA.

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

Given the upheaval in national and global political and economic landscapes, we can expect continuing change within the Mexican market, and are seeing those changes unfold before our very eyes. The Mexican market will be a dynamic one in the year ahead and the ability to nimbly provide legal advice will be key to clients and stakeholders.

Despite the major reforms of 2013 – and, in part, because of the abrupt halt of portions of the implementation thereof – key financial and development players will need to be actively involved in the market and keenly aware of each development. As we anticipate a dynamic set of circumstances in the political, social, industrial, financial and macroeconomic arenas, being well-informed and able to “cut through the noise” will be essential to the success of any endeavour. We expect to see more debate in the power and oil and gas sectors, and infrastructure generally, and will continue to pay close attention to, and participate in the dialogue surrounding, any new legislation, and judicial and executive branch activity.

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

Legal technology will serve to enhance our already strong ability to work collaboratively and efficiently across borders. Co-counsels will be in a position to work more seamlessly together in a more integrated manner and efforts are already being made at a technological level to work electronically in real time.

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

When working with in-house counsel, it is clear that they prioritize in no particular order and rather in a holistic manner:

• Cost-effective solutions where value for money (and not cheap) is the key parameter on which outside counsels work is measured.
• A fundamental understanding of the Mexican regulatory landscape and up-to-date knowledge of political and legislative developments.
• “Cultural awareness” and understanding of “doing business” in Mexico.
• A willingness to collaborate and to help create and foster solutions.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and relationships with in-house counsel.
• Vertically integrated bilingual (preferably natively) teams.
• Awareness of the particular goals of each client at a transactional and at a corporate level and the ability to execute on those goals on a transaction to transaction basis.
• Effective implementation and use of legal project management tools in a manner that is relatable and representative of actual results that benefit the client.

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