About

One of Spain’s most historic corporate groups, Bergé y Cía is a Spanish company comprised of diversified operations across 10 countries. Divided into legal, tax and corporate secretarial areas, the Bergé y Cía legal team is recommended for its excellent service in the face of difficult and changing circumstances imposed by a severe financial crisis in the Iberian region. The most senior lawyer in the company is Salvador Bautista Enciso, who acts as Bergé y Cía’s head of legal and taxes as well as being secretary to the board. Bautista quotes Alfonso López, Alberto Menéndez, and Llanos Manzanares as the key individuals within the team. Despite being described by Bautista as a ‘young department’, the team is involved at ‘a very early stage’ in almost all relevant transactions carried out. In fact, ‘supporting these transactions is how [the team] influence and improve the group with our services’, demonstrating the tangible added value the team adds to the company’s revenue figures. Bautista claims the most important of these transactions was the acquisition of a distributorship of Mitsubishi of Spain and Portugal and their involvement in the refinancing of the group’s debt, the latter requiring ‘very strong work around documentation because of the number of companies (over 100) involved and the securities they grant’. Despite a ‘tough and challenging’ two years, the team saw it through to completion. Citing a ‘very close’ relationship with the CEO, Bautista explains how the team is required to find balanced solutions, as sometimes they need to be ‘less commercial and focus on risk control during crisis years. We take a proactive, solution-driven approach but have to slow down sometimes’. The crisis impacted the business and the legal team even through to things like law firm selection, which Bautista states has made them ‘look at boutique firms more than big ones’, benefiting from cost saving and increased specialisation. Versatile even in difficult and changing circumstances, the legal team at Bergé y Cía is an excellent example of a function that is well-versed in reacting quickly and with competence no matter the scale or shape of the problem posed to the business.