What are the most significant private equity deals that you or your team have recently been involved in within the Latin American market?

I was part of the team that led our renewable energy investment portfolio. In these projects we developed, built and operated – and successfully excited – 800MW renewable energy (wind and solar) company in Mexico, as well as 400 MW renewable energy company in Central America. I also led the team in the due diligence, structuring, deal negotiation and closing on our restaurants and fast-food platform in Chile (300 restaurants and ice cream shops), and in the acquisition of a minority interest in Alqueria, the leading dairy company in Colombia.

Most recently, I lead the design, structuring and fundraising efforts of a new green infrastructure fund which Mesoamerica is currently raising, that seeks to develop and scale up infrastructure projects focused on energy transition and circular economy in Latin America.

Latin American markets vary widely in terms of economic stability and political dynamics. How do you factor these considerations into your legal strategies and recommendations for private equity clients?

Doing private equity deals in Latin America has taught me several important lessons: 1) there is no such thing as a “LATAM deal”, as every country is very different in terms of legal, political and macro environment, so having the right local partners and advisors is key; 2) you must be ready to face uncertainty, things are going to happen that you are not expecting, whether it is a change in politics, FX, inflation, taxes, civil unrest – just to name a few –, things will happen and you need to be ready to adapt your strategy; and 3) because of all these reasons, you need to have the right controls, processes and systems in place to be able to monitor the state of the business and implement changes effectively when needed.