About

Fernando Devoto is the director of corporate legal matters and institutional relations for Grupo Gloria, a diversified Peruvian conglomerate active across the food & dairy, sugar and alcohol, cement, phosphates, paper & pulp and transport & logistics sectors. With activities in seven Latin American jurisdictions (Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Uruguay), it boasted consolidated sales of over $3000m in 2013 and a labour force of some 29,000. Remarkably, the group has averaged three major transactions every two years for approaching 20 years. During this profound growth, Devoto has overseen the corporate restructuring of the entire group; instituted a system of “double reporting” (to both legal and general directors) for the legal department, and instituted a rotation system that ensures all its members gain exposure to differing aspects of the business. Externally, he has led on a range of matters, both financial/transactional (such as bond issues, syndicated loans and acquisitions), and contentious, not least the successful conclusion of a seven-year, $240m case against the government of Puerto Rico related to regulations in the dairy sector. Private practice advocates speak of ‘a fantastically capable lawyer’, who leads on all the group’s relevant matters, and ‘has the sophistication and expertise to handle everything from delicate issues, litigation and transactional work.’