About

Number of years practice:
8

Principal practice areas:
Banking and Finance, Energy and Infrastructure

Bar admissions:
New York, Mexico

Languages spoken:
English, Spanish

Alan Sakar Azuara is a dual Mexican-US qualified senior associate in the Americas energy and infrastructure group. He has many years of experience advising sponsors, DFIs and major commercial banks on the financing of projects, and issuers and underwriters in capital markets transactions, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sector across Latin America.

Notable cases for Sakar include advising 174 Power Global in the development and financing of a 101MW photovoltaic project being developed in Coahuila, Mexico; advising ING, Bancomext and KfW in the $209m financing of a 300MW PV project developed by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) in San Luis Potosi; and advising a global investment management firm in the US$70m private placement for the holdco financing of the 850MW and 94MW CCGT Energía del Valle de México I-II projects with PPAs with CFE Calificados.

What differentiates your Mexico-facing practice from those of your US competitors and peers?
Nowadays, clients expect you to provide a tailor-made service. They expect you to know “the how”, “the who”, and “the when’” and expect you to go the extra mile that they are paying for. They expect us not just to speak the local language, but also to have the cultural fluency required to close transactions smoothly and at a low cost.

Fortunately, as a lawyer born and raised in Mexico and admitted in Mexico and NY, I’ve helped Clifford Chance and our worldwide clients to navigate and understand Mexico’s cultural, political and economic realities. Our Latin America team is one of the few worldwide teams with a Mexico focused desk with permanent practitioners licensed both in Mexico and in the US, which enables us to fulfil our clients’ expectations.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of advising Mexico-based clients from an office in the United States?
I wouldn’t say that there are advantages or disadvantages. These days, it doesn’t matter whether you are based in Mexico, the United States, Europe or Asia; you will be able to deliver to the extent you have the best teams and tech tools available to provide the expected service to your clients. Mexico is a sophisticated market which requires international firms to partner with local firms to deliver a quality product, and Clifford Chance understands the importance of having strong relationships with all major local firms there.

What changes in the commercial and/or legal market do you anticipate in the 12 months ahead in Mexico?
As the 14th largest economy in the world and Latin America’s second largest economy, Mexico provided much excitement in 2019. There is a new administration with a new agenda and new players. In respect of energy and infrastructure, during 2020, we expect to see the implementation of several programs and projects such as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec corridor project (together with the expansion of the Salina Cruz (Oaxaca) and Coatzacoalcos (Veracruz) ports), which aim to compete with the Panama Canal and connect Asian countries with the East Coast of the US; the Mayan Train, to boost tourism and commerce in the Mayan Peninsula; the construction of two oil refineries; the construction of 13 hydroelectric plants; the construction of two 700MW coal-fired power plants; the modernisation of four existing refineries, and the implementation of private auctions. Also, we expect to will see strong participation from commercial and local development banks, CKDs and institutional investors, which will enable Mexico to fulfil its ambitious infrastructure agenda.

What influence will legal technology have on US/Mexico working practices in the future?
Clifford Chance is already preparing for what the future of legal technology will bring to US/Mexico working practices. We are highly invested in technology training for lawyers, and integrated platforms to optimise transactional practices, and are applying AI technologies to high expense legal activities such as e-discovery and due diligence. We believe these burgeoning approaches will soon become commonplace, and the firm is already preparing for the next wave of technological innovation. In the near term, online platforms for managing transactions from end-to-end, with all parties engaged, will be the new way of doing business. From managing the drafting and negotiation process, to digital signing and execution of contracts, a lot of administrative friction will be removed.

What is your perception of in-house counsel’s priorities in terms of client service when working with US-based law firms?
In general terms, they expect the best service to be provided. But what does best service mean? Basically, they expect external counsel to be interested in their business (beyond the mandate) and understand its nuances, provide regular status updates and easy-to-use products, and foremost, they what to avoid last minute surprises.

At Clifford Chance, we understand that we are in the services industry and that our number one priority is to satisfy our clients’ needs.