About

Multinational French company Essilor produces optical lenses and equipment and is the world leader for prescription lenses. Part of the Brazilian arm of the global company’s operation includes manufacturing instruments and apparatus that measure an optical property. Leading the legal department which is currently comprised of eight lawyers and two paralegals is Ana Silvia Dias Haynes, general counsel and compliance officer for Latin America. Commenting on the achievements of the legal team Haynes says, ‘with a small team we were able to achieve more than 22 M&A’s and consolidation of deals in the region with high quality legal service provided’. The deals Haynes mentions include the acquisition of partner laboratories in Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Brazil. With around five M&A deals completed each year by the team across Latin America and the Caribbean, the legal team at Essilor in Brazil is recognised for their prolific transactional work in recent years that has contributed to the growth of the company. To manage this heavy workload the team created a system of regulatory and corporate analysis and clearance for M&A and operational legal matters for each country in Latin America that Essilor operates in, by using data alongside past experiences of conducting M&A in the region. Describing the team ethos Haynes says, ‘we are business partners that consistently deliver great performance by providing innovative and compliant legal solutions to Essilor and the people we serve to fulfil its mission of improving lives by improving eyesight’.