About

Number of years practice: 25 Law school attended: New York University School of Law Languages spoken: English Principal practice areas: Banking, Capital Markets, Corporate Finance, Restructuring Admissions: New York

What have been three of your career highlights in Mexico to date? In 2013, I represented private equity firm Ventura Capital in its successful takeover of Maxcom Telecomunicaciones, a facilities-based telecommunications provider. The takeover was accomplished through a simultaneous public tender offer for the shares of Maxcom in Mexico and an SEC-registered tender offer in the US. The takeover was conditioned on a complete reorganization of Maxcom’s capital structure, which was accomplished by filing a prepackaged chapter 11 bankruptcy plan in Delaware to compel Maxcom’s bondholders to accept new high-yield bond terms. The interplay between the Mexican and US corporate and securities rules, the US SEC and Mexican CNBV tender offer rules, and the US bankruptcy rules all being applied by a group of Mexican investors led by a Mexican private equity firm to acquire a Mexican telecoms corporation created an innovative approach to M&A that has not been tried before in any emerging market. In 2015, I represented GE Capital as lender and agent in an approximately $3bn seller financing loan facility for Blackstone’s acquisition of GE’s Mexican commercial mortgage portfolio. This was one of the largest real estate financings ever in Latin America, secured by an extremely large and diverse real estate portfolio that GE was trying to monetize under very tight time constraints. Never before has a dual currency seller financing structure like this been tried in the Mexican market. The innovative legal instrument was a hybrid securitization/dual currency model. I have also been integral to the representation of two of the three largest Mexican homebuilders, Desarrolladora Homex and Urbi, Desarrollos Urbanos, in their recent restructurings under the Mexican bankruptcy law. Both restructurings took place amidst Mexican bankruptcy reforms effective January 2014, that were being tested by these companies’ complex prepackaged plans of reorganization valued at over $2bn each. Homex was a publicly traded company that had been registered with the SEC, adding another layer of complexity to its restructuring process. Urbi, however, was arguably the larger and more difficult of these cases due to the competing interests of its diverse creditor groups. Both transactions were pushed to the limit to obtain the necessary creditor and court approvals by the deadlines required under the 2014 bankruptcy reforms. What differentiates your practice from that of other private practice lawyers? My practice is distinguished by my in-depth experience with high-yield debt covenants and cross-border debt restructurings combined with an extremely wide variety of expertise in corporate finance generally. Having such a broad background that includes liability management and project bond offerings as well as other structured and secured debt products is a valuable asset in my diverse practice. What are your predictions for change in the US-Mexico relationship? Much has been said about the negative effect of the US elections, and in particular the statements by President Trump, on the value of the Mexican peso and the likely impact on Mexican industry in general. The economic ties between the countries are very deep, however, so despite the rhetoric about NAFTA and the border adjustment tax, trade between the countries is likely to continue to be more robust than many realize, though perhaps at a higher cost. Political relations are likely to continue to deteriorate, however, which may affect the next election cycle in Mexico. Are there any aspects of the Mexican legal market that you would like to see change? When the bankruptcy reforms were adopted a few years ago, there was some hope that at least for federal bankruptcy court cases there would be more transparency and a more sophisticated judiciary system, but that has yet to emerge. Is there a key economic factor or trend you regard as likely to impact the Mexican legal sector over the next 18 months? Given that 80% of Mexican exports enter the United States, actions taken by the US Congress on trade agreements and border taxes over the next 18 months will affect many clients in Mexico, either directly or due to volatility in the Mexican peso, which will in turn drive demand for legal services in a number of areas. In addition, the price of oil will affect the growth of the energy and infrastructure sectors of the Mexican legal market. Are there any sectors you regard as likely growth areas for the Mexican market over the next five years? In the next few years, the number of restructurings and reorganizations by Mexican companies are likely to accelerate as the pressure to compete in what is likely to be an increasingly adverse economic environment becomes more intense. Energy and infrastructure may be areas of growth as well.