Banking and finance

Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez, S.C.

‘Legal brilliance, attention to detail, negotiation skills, practicality, harmony with the client and commitment’ are the calling cards of the practice at Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez, S.C. The team routinely handles structured and DIP financings, syndicated loans, project and acquisition financings, and secured and unsecured financings, for which it is regularly instructed by international and domestic lenders, borrowers, guarantors, funds, agents, banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions. A recent standout matter saw the group act as Mexican counsel to FIBRA Prologis, as borrower, on the refinancing of its $400m sustainability-linked unsecured revolver credit facility, with a syndicate of nine international and domestic banks. Firm chairman Carlos Aiza co-leads the practice and has extensive capital markets, corporate finance and asset-backed finance experience. Alongside him, Giovanni Ramírez Garrido specialises in acquisition finance, structured finance, asset-backed financing, and bankruptcy and restructuring mandates. Additional key partners include Pedro Velasco (banking and finance, bankruptcy, capital markets); Giovanni Ramírez Garrido (acquisition finance, structured finance, asset-backed financing, real estate financing); Emilio Aarún (structured finance, bankruptcy and restructuring), and Alejandro Isaac (secured and unsecured financings, real estate and project finance), who are collectively lauded by one client as ’very talented … undoubtedly the best financing lawyers in Mexico’. Following the departure of former senior Adriana Colliers who moved in house at Vanguard in September 2024, Martín Pavón Pérez, and Lorena Bustamante are the key associate-level contacts; both support the partners across the gamut of banking and finance matters.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘Emilio Aarún understands the transaction not only from the legal perspective but also from the business perspective and from each of the parties involved in it, putting on the table solutions that are attractive for all those parties of the project, which makes the documentation of the operation efficient. Respectful and open negotiation capacity that allows him to take into account all points of view, include all parties and suggest the ideal scenario.'
‘They are always available to serve their clients and among their qualities are professional ethics, solid commitment to the client. The firm has the resources, expertise and connections with banks that makes them a top choice in the banking and finance practice.'
‘Excellent firm with a great team of professionals always ready and available, expert lawyers in the field with great knowledge of clients and our needs, always ready to close deals. Pedro Velasco is a lawyer who understands the transaction thoroughly, and without losing focus on protecting the interests of his clients, he collaborates for the good of the transaction to bring it to a successful conclusion.’
‘Giovanni Ramirez Garrido brings many years of experience, a very pragmatic and clear approach to design financing and collateral structures and, in particular, a natural instinct to protect the client's interests from the outset and make sure that there's no cutting corners. Depending on the type of transaction, Giovanni strikes a good balance between guiding, nudging and intervening when needed, while also giving other members of the deal team good margin of action.'
'Adriana Colliers is an associate in the financing practice. She has a good balance of technical skills and deal management. She is very organized, takes full ownership of the deal documentation and meets deadlines. She is also very good at communicating and interacting with clients, and managing junior resources. Adriana is definitively the type of proactive person that you want as a client managing the day to day of a transaction, and I expect her to have a very bright future in her career at Creel.’
‘Legal brilliance, attention to detail, negotiation skills, practicality, harmony with the client, commitment, disposition. The lawyers who accompanied us in an outstanding manner are the best in the banking and financing field in Mexico: Pedro Velasco, Alejandro Isaac, Santiago Aguilar.'
‘Technically very solid, and they work as a unit in a very coordinated manner. They always seek to be at the forefront in the provision of their services and are 'first-movers' in the adoption of policies to improve their services and institutions (for example in terms of diversity and technology).'
‘They are always available and handle matters with a dynamic team of lawyers, which always helps to meet the schedule set by clients. They know the market very well, they are very commercial and they provide very good ideas and solutions for complex and sophisticated issues. Pedro Velasco, Giovanni Ramírez, Emilio Aarún, and Alejandro Isaac, very talented, are undoubtedly the best financing lawyers in Mexico.'

Key clients

BBVA
Santander
HSBC
Monex
Scotiabank
Morgan Stanley
JPMorgan
Banorte
MetLife
CarVal
Glisco
Capital Indigo
Walton Street Capital
Prologis
Macquarie
Irongate
BlackStone
Fibra Sordo
Apollo
BlackRock

Work highlights

Assisted Flō Networks with the acquisition of 100% of American Tower’s Mexico Fiber business.
Assisted Clarios Global with a private offering of $750m 6.750% senior secured notes due 2028 and upsized $2.75bn term loan facility maturing 2030.
Assisted Santander, as administrative and collateral agent, with the negotiation and implementation of the amendment to an existing syndicated credit agreement entered into by Servicios Corporativos.

Lawyers

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