About

Number of years practice: 10 Principal practice areas: Corporate, corporate governance, energy and natural resources, life sciences, M&A and private equity Bar admissions: District of Colombia, Virginia Languages spoken: English and Portuguese

Appointed partner at Dechert in January 2017, Bernardo Piereck has a broad corporate transactional practice with a strong private equity element that reaches across sectors ranging from life sciences to energy. Having accumulated considerable experience in Mexico-related matters, recent corporate transactional mandates have seen him acting alongside colleague Howard Kleinman on advice to CMX Cinemas (a wholly owned subsidiary of Cinemex) regarding its acquisition of Cobb Theatres’ 25 existing locations (as well as two theatres under development in Florida and Georgia). This strategic acquisition positions CMX Cinemas as the eighth largest movie theatre chain in the US. Other recent cross-border matters include advising Mexican multinational fresh fluid dairy processor Laguna Dairy on the sale of its Dallas-based Borden subsidiary to ACON Investments; and Grupo Mexico’s transportation business unit, GMexico Transportes, on its acquisition of Florida East Coast Railway Holdings. Prior to moving into private practice, Piereck worked as an economist at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington DC, experience that has stood him in good stead as regards the energy and natural resources aspect of his practice. His recent energy-related matters include advising Grupo Mexico’s Compañía Perforadora de México (PEMSA) on five separate acquisitions of jack-up rigs and drilling platforms (with an aggregate value of approximately $1bn), for use in oil exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.