Team size: 29

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

My team and I have been involved in several transactions. Many of them are confidential, but among those which can be mentioned are the acquisition of 20% of the stake in La Tinka S.A. (leader in the lottery and sports betting industry in Peru), which enabled Nexus Group to consolidate the 100% of Nexus’ ownership.

Another important transaction was the acquisition of 30% of the stake in Apropet, one of the main players un the recycling business in Colombia. This purchase permitted SMI, the undisputable leader in rigid packaging solutions and recycling in Hispanic America, to consolidate the 100% of the ownership of this company.

I handle a dual role in both transactions, business and legal, so the challenge has been leading both teams (finance and legal) and making both work together smoothly.

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?

It is always challenging designing long-term investment structures in Latin America. What we look for are structures which enable us to protect our investment through supra-national entities or stability agreements in countries where it is permitted. Another focus point of us is getting structures to avoid having trapped cash in jurisdictions with tough exchange controls. Definitely the instability of the region is a factor to be assessed in order to have liquidity in our investments, but there is no silver bullet, we have to structure each deal being conscient that the legal environment in our countries can change from one day to the other, and we have to factor that in, not only in our structure, but in our valuation.

Our investment in SMI as leader in the Andean region, Center America and Caribe is a case study of internationalization. We have managed very well to mitigate country risk in this investment and to operate successfully all-over Hispanic America.

What do you find most rewarding and challenging about working as an in-house lawyer specialising in private equity within the Latin American market?

The 360-degree vision in which you have to understand the problematic of several industries, the environment, their finance, their regulation. Only grasping that you will have the ability to design a strong contract and a solvent structure, that is also tax efficient. Always bearing in mind you need a pathway to exit.

The challenge is to be prepared to divest even if long-term political and financial stress scenarios are undergoing. It is not easy to find a job where you have so many interdisciplinary fronts to understand and manage. This is so time demanding but fortunately, I have achieved a balance thanks to the extraordinary work of all the members of Nexus Group legal team, who are involved not only in the legal affairs of the private equity fund but also in the day to day performance of our portfolio companies where Nexus Group is the majority controller (SMI, La Tinka and NGR).