Team size: Five

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

The negotiation process of the distribution agreements for alcoholic products we were involved in the past five years was without doubt a very challenging milestone achievement for us at Coca-Cola Embonor legal department. It involved multinational corporations such as Diageo Plc. and AB Inbev; as well as local and traditional Chilean companies like Viña Santa Rita and Capel. These transactions involved multidisciplinary and sophisticated legal teams, and interestingly, the counterparties were quite different in their approach to some common contractual clauses. In addition to that, the signature of those distribution agreements was a milestone for the Coca-Cola business since the Chilean Coca-Cola System was the first in the region to distribute alcoholic products under those kinds of contracts. That achievement emboldened our path to become a “Total Beverage Company”.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

Deep understanding of the business; agility and clarity in their responses to the internal clients; and empathy with the needs of the other departments of the company,

What are some of the main legislative or regulatory changes that have impacted you?

In the past few years, the beverage industry both in Chile and worldwide has been affected by several regulatory changes. Despite that, I believe we have been able to deal with that fact in a very conscientious and responsible way.