Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP’s dominant status in global capital markets remains in evidence in Latin America. The firm routinely lands big-ticket and market-first engagements. It is one of few firms to have a significant presence in São Paulo that is led by leading capital markets lawyers. Since 2006, it has advised on more than 600 completed capital markets transactions, including Santander Brasil’s inital public offering, the largest ever IPO by a Latin American issuer. The firm is also at the forefront of debt restructurings, notably advising Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) on its restructuring of $2bn of debt owed to several suppliers. In sovereign offerings, the practice represented Plurinational State of Bolivia on its $850m sovereign bond issuance. Manuel Garciadiaz is head of the Latin America group and has an outstanding record in headline offerings from Brazil, Mexico and other major markets; he has worked on more than 350 equity and debt financings by Latin American issuers over the past decade. Maurice Blanco co-heads the global capital markets team and has -in turn- advised on more than 250 transactions by Latin American issuers over the same period. Both divide their time between São Paulo and New York. Pedro Bermeo is now a pivotal member of the team, covering a variety of equity and debt instruments in multiple sectors and numerous Latin American jurisdictions. Counsel Katia Brener is a native Spanish speaker and specialises in Latin America capital markets transactions.