About

Number of years practice: 38 Principal practice areas: Banking, capital markets, corporate finance, M&A Admissions: New York Languages spoken: English

Michael Fitzgerald’s reputation for, and track record in, innovative and first-of-their-kind deals in Mexico sees him occupy a preeminent place among US-based lawyers advising in the country. He was one of the first US lawyers to focus on corporate finance work in Latin America and his first-mover advantage has led to his numerous representations of a wide range of international and domestic underwriter and issuer clients in debt and equity financing transactions, merger and acquisition activities and lending transactions. He has been serially recognised as a leading lawyers by a number of publications, including the Financial Times. Fitzgerald started out as a regular adviser to Merrill Lynch as underwriter to many securities offerings in Mexico. His frequency on big deals gave him exposure to numerous corporate issuers and while he has moved between firms over the years, he has maintained a core team of lieutenants that have helped maintain a leading market share in Mexico. Among the first US corporate lawyers to focus on capital markets work in Latin America, Fitzgerald has leveraged this advantage to make numerous representations of a wide range of international and domestic underwriter and issuer clients in debt and equity financing transactions and merger and acquisition activities, including the IPO of the first Mexican mortgage REIT, one of the largest acquisition bank financings in Latin America to date, one of the largest equity offerings ever in Mexico and the largest equity offering ever in the real estate sector in Latin America. Current head of the Latin America practice group, over the past year he has continued to lead on important matters in the Mexican market, including representing Becle, the parent company of globally recognised spirits company Jose Cuervo, in its $916m IPO, the largest out of Mexico since 2013. Last year also saw Fitzgerald heavily engaged in bond offerings, with representations including Mexico City Airport Trust in its $4bn green bond offering, the largest ever in Latin America; Sigma in a €600m bond offering; and a number of others.