Team size: Five

Focus on: My company

SAAM is a Chilean publicly traded company controlled by Quiñenco, which has become one of the main port operators in the Americas, the leading towage services company in South America and the third largest towage service provider in the world. In addition, SAAM provides air cargo handling services through the wholly owned company Aerosan, in Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. SAAM has more than 60 years of experience and operates in 14 countries throughout North, Central and South America.

During the last two years SAAM has experienced tremendous inorganic growth, acquiring different companies and assets in Chile, Canada, Brazil, Perú and Ecuador. Additionally, in October 2022 SAAM signed an agreement with the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd for the sale of its port terminals and logistics businesses in a US$1.2bn transaction, which is expected to close during the third quarter of 2023.

In the words of SAAM’s general counsel, the extensive M&A transactional work has represented a great challenge for the company’s legal team. Matching the day-to-day operational legal needs of the company and its subsidiaries with the legal requirements of the transactions is a difficult task, but the delivery and success of the transaction processes and the results of the company are proof that the legal team has risen to the challenge.

For José Tomás Palacios, being included in the GC Powerlist is recognition of the entire legal team more than a personal award. Therefore, in his opinion, it is worth highlighting Giordano Peri, María Jesús Mingo, and Alejandro Tuesta. Giordano Peri’s extensive experience in the sector, the corporate and real estate knowledge of Maria Jesús Mingo, and the goal-oriented personality and knowledge of customs of Alejandro Tuesta, were the keys to success.

José Tomás graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Católica in 2009 and obtained an LLM from Columbia University in New York in 2015. Prior to working for SAAM, José Tomás served as general counsel at the Chilean publicly traded company SalfaCorp, as legal advisor to the Chilean Presidency, and as an associate at the Chilean law firm Carey.