About

Number of years practice: 24 Principal practice areas: Alternative investment funds, private equity, M&A Bar admissions: New York Languages spoken: English, French and Spanish

The largest US law firm without a Mexican office, Sidley Austin partners with a variety of local firms with specialised expertise. This, says Alyssa Grikscheit, who co-chairs Sidley Austin’s Latin American Working Group, allows the firm the best flexibility to serve clients by matching its global expertise with their local knowledge. Grikscheit is one of the few US practitioners who has navigated the complex legal issues associated with closing a Mexican public offering together with an offshore private offering. She is particularly active in fund formation and M&A projects involving Mexico on behalf of both US and Mexican clients. These fund formation mandates tend to be highly complicated, involving special Mexican structures such as Certificado de Capital de Desarrollo (CKDs) as well as offshore investment funds. Her practice is focused on aggregating and deploying capital in alternative assets, particularly in emerging markets, with a special focus on Latin America, where she has developed innovative fund formation, co-investment and direct investment structures for US and Latin American clients. She has been involved with the US legal issues associated with CKD issuances on the Mexican Stock Exchange and their offshore investment vehicles, such as those on behalf of The Rohatyn Group and FCI Administradora, advisor to a subsidiary of Banco Interacciones. Grikscheit also has a thriving pro bono practice, particularly in the financial inclusion sector where she has helped ACCION International and Women’s World Banking aggregate and deploy capital in Mexico and other countries in Latin America.