About

Number of years practice: 20 Law school attended: Stanford Law School (JD) Languages spoken: English, Portuguese and Spanish Principal practice areas: Energy Finance, Infrastructure Finance, Project Finance Admissions: New York

Growing up on the US-Mexico border, Carolina Walther-Meade lived and went to school in both Tijuana, Baja California, and San Diego, California. She decided at an early age to pursue a career that would allow her to stay connected to –and have an impact on– both Latin America and, in particular, Mexico; today Walther-Meade heads Milbank’s International Attorney Program, one of the cornerstones of its Latin America practice. Consistently recognized as one of the leading attorneys globally in both the project finance and banking & finance areas, Walther-Meade has accumulated considerable experience in the Latin America region as a whole, and in the Mexican market in particular. The sub-sector of acquisition finance illustrates the depth of her expertise; here alone she has advised the finance providers for Mexichem’s 2007 acquisition of Amanco (Mexico) and Petco (Colombia) in a multi-borrower, multi-guarantor financing structure involving eight different jurisdictions across Latin America; undertaken José Cuervo’s 2014 acquisition of Bushmills Irish Whiskey; as well as Advent’s acquisition of Melody and various acquisitions by América Móvil. In more general financing matters, Walther-Meade’s experience includes representing all the commercial lenders on the $1.52bn modernization and expansion of PEMEX’s Cadereyta oil refinery in Nuevo León; and representing Partners Group in its first major infrastructure investment in Latin America – the $750m acquisition of a majority stake in leading Mexican gas-infrastructure operator, Fermaca. She also acted on one of the first limited-recourse project financings for mining projects in Mexico, representing the bank lenders to the Milpillas Copper Mine Project, the leading Mexican producer of gold, zinc and lead, and a world leader in silver production. Cross-border financings and international project finance and development –specifically in the infrastructure, energy, oil-and-gas and mining sectors– are also part of her broad array of skillsets and sectors in in which she has extensive experience. Walther-Meade serves on the Global Advisory Board of the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF), whose vision is to create a dialogue for the purpose of educating women attorneys on how to become leaders in their workplace and community. She participates in Milbank’s mentoring program, where she counsels associates on quality-of-life and work issues, and she also serves on the firm’s Women’s Initiative Committee and co-heads its recruiting subcommittee.