Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has a core team of six Latin America specialist partners across its New York and Sao Paulo offices. The partners all focus on corporate and M&A transactions to varying degrees and have built a commanding presence in the market. Beyond this dedicated Latin America group, the firm has a range of partners that also lead or support transactions in the region. The Latin America team continues to set the benchmark in bulge-bracket private equity transactions, building on the firm’s global status in this field. It also stands out for its record in M&A, especially in the financial services sector, along with transactions in the energy and technology fields. Recent mandates include advising Stonepeak Infrastructure partners on its $2.7bn acquisition of the Latin America business of Lumen Technologies, and KKR on its agreement with Telefónica to establish Colombia’s first independent nationwide open-access wholesale digital infrastructure company. Along with its historical strength in cross-border investments into Latin America, the team is also increasingly active in outbound transactions into North America. A case in point was the team’s advice to The Fresh Market (and its controlling shareholders), on the $1.56bn sale of a 67% stake to South American retailer, Cencosud. Todd Crider leads the Latin America group and divides his time between New York and Sao Paulo, often advising on some of the largest and most high-profile deals in the market. Juan Naveira is a recognised Latin America M&A specialist and Juan Francisco Méndez is another senior practitioner with a fine reputation in M&A. Grenfel Calheiros is a big player in Sao Paulo, while up-coming figure Borja Marcos was promoted to partner in January 2023. Former partner Jaime Mercado has become of counsel. Named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise. Since publication, the Sao Paulo-based team has been further strengthened with the promotion of senior associate Luiz Felipe Noronha to counsel - effective as of November 2023.