‘Highly prepared to conduct all aspects of a transaction’, Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos' sizeable 48-member department is consistently mandated to advise on joint ventures, private equity and venture capital deals, private and public company acquisitions, domestic and cross-border deals, corporate mergers, spin-offs and restructurings (both with and without change of control). Recent mandates for the full-service firm’s corporate and M&A team include matters from the mining, energy, infrastructure, banking and financial services sectors, as well as insurance, media, aquaculture, healthcare, retail, food, water, utilities and agribusiness. The practice houses several deeply experienced practitioners, namely: Sergio Díez, a highly-rated adviser for corporate law, contracts and agreements; longstanding M&A specialist Gerardo Varela; Cristián Herrera, whose workload encompasses foreign investment and securities regulations, in addition to corporate and transactional matters; Juan Pablo Matus, whose track record includes company and asset acquisitions; corporate, natural resources and mining law specialist Carlos Pérez-Cotapos; and mining sector expert Gonzalo Grez. The practice further includes ’excellent’ corporate and commercial law practitioner Andrea Saffie; corporate and M&A partner Nicolás Lustig, a July 2023 arrival from BHP Minerals Americas, where he was vice-president of legal; and senior partner Francisco J Illanes, who has ‘great legal technical capability’. M&A-focused senior associates María Francisca Salas and Sergio Balharry complete the team.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Commitment to client service while resolving challenging legal issues during the course of significant M&A transactions.’
- ‘Ability to interact constructively with other legal professionals so as to reach an agreement.’
- ‘The team is highly prepared to conduct all aspects of a transaction. They relate very well with people, both with the client and the counterparty.’
- ‘They resolve, move forward, propose alternatives when there are doubts, and allow time to find solutions.’
- ‘Their seniority, presence and temperance stand out. Specific knowledge too. They inspire confidence.’
- ‘Francisco J Illanes - great legal technical capability, but above all a great business vision that allows him to accompany clients through M&A deals in a comprehensive and safe manner. A great contributor to the negotiation process.’
- ‘Francisco J Illanes stands out for having the complete set of necessary technical tools - very disciplined and makes great contributions to the negotiation process with a lot of emotional intelligence. Capable of fully understanding the fundamental points of the client’s business.’
- ‘Andrea Saffie is excellent and has the ability to advocate for clients’ interests and provide pragmatic advice.’
Key clients
- CTS Eventim
- Sony Music Entertainment
- American Industrial Partners
- NV Bekaert
- Fonterra
- Franco Nevada Corporation
- Discovery Communications
- Rio Tinto Chile
- Río King
- Andes Quality
- Doppelmayr
- NCR Voyix
- Warner Bros Discovery
Work highlights
- Advised a foreign multinational and multicultural joint venture on the acquisition of a controlling 65% stake in Punto Ticket.
- Assisted American Industrial Partners with a legal due diligence concerning Chilean companies and assets.
- Advised private equity firm AIP on a binding arrangement agreement with Boart Longyear Group.
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Sergio Díez, Gerardo Varela, Cristián Herrera, Juan Pablo Matus, Carlos Pérez-Cotapos, Gonzalo Grez, Andrea Saffie, Francisco J Illanes, Nicolás Lustig