About

Obrascón Huarte Lain (OHL) is an IBEX 35 Spanish multinational construction and civil engineering company with approximate annual revenues of €3.6bn. In a challenging time for the Spanish economy, especially for construction companies, OHL has made an effort to strategically focus on its key markets. In its 2015-2020 Strategic Plan, the company determined that its eight “home markets” would remain its focus, reinforcing its presence in Americas (Canada, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile), and maintaining its commitment to its traditional European markets (Spain and Czech Republic). OHL has continued to win major projects in Latin America in 2017; for example, the expansion of a Chilean dam for €145m, and a contract for the construction of a cement plant in Colombia worth €225m. The Madrid-based legal team played a crucial support role to the local internal and external legal teams that were part of the negotiating tender teams. Led by José Maria del Cuvillo Pemán, general director of legal services, a team of over 20 lawyers in Spain and a further 20 in the global operations of OHL are tasked with assisting the company through demanding times. In order to make the continued progress of OHL a reality, the legal team has had to negotiate a number of capital increases and loans despite negative comments from hedge funds and rating agencies. Working within this backdrop makes the team’s achievements even more impressive. An example of their work includes, in October 2015, a successful closing of a €1bn capital increase by issuing and putting into circulation 199 million new shares, reaching a subscription level of 7.2 times the total offer. In March 2017, OHL was also able to secure a €746m syndicated loan deal with a consortium of banks (including Sabadell, Santander, Popular, Bankia, CaixaBank, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale). Javier Silva Escrivá de Romaní, head of legal for OHL Developments, and José Maria del Cuvillo Pemán, general director of legal services, both appeared in the 2016 GC Powerlist: Iberia. Nominators this year continued to point to the quality of the entire legal team and its contribution to OHL in difficult circumstances.