About

With more than 31,200 MW installed in more than 50 countries, Gamesa is a global technological leader in the wind industry and an IBEX 35 listed company. Juan Antonio García Fuente joined Gamesa in 2003 and last year was appointed general counsel, with a focus on M&A, finance, wind turbine sales, wind farm sales, wind farm business solutions, O&M services and industrial operations. Heading a legal department amid the financial crisis has been a particularly big challenge for García Fuente, who has taken wide-reaching initiatives to contain the legal costs, while increasing efficiency. ‘I feel proud of all the important achievements on outside-counsel management. We have partnered with some major firms like Uría Menéndez and CMS, reducing the number of firms we work with. At the same time, we have searched for and hired smaller, regional firms for some categories of work. We now manage our legal work in the same manner as businesses manage their capital expenditures’. The economic environment pushed Gamesa into expanding its operations in international markets, and García Fuente took charge of the internationalisation process and all legal risks associated. During the last seven years Gamesa has transcended from a supplier focused mainly on the Spanish market into a global player and the general counsel’s role has been pivotal. One of the deals he headed during that time was the joint venture with AREVA for their offshore wind-business. ‘I had a leading role in negotiations with AREVA. This deal serves the strategic direction that GAMESA wants to take in a new market where we were not present. The complexities of this deal were huge in many aspects, including AREVA being a French state-owned company. The legal department showed value and contributed to the achievement of this strategic goal in terms and conditions satisfactory for our board’.