Admired by clients for its ‘excellent technical knowledge and good communication skills’, the tax department at Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez, S.C. regularly assists with the tax elements of many of the major transactions in the Mexican market. The department is particularly renowned for its prowess in the capital markets arena where complex tax issues are involved. The firm has an extensive client base across numerous sectors and industries but is especially strong in the private equity space; Blackrock is among those that look to the firm for tax advice. Practice head Omar Zúñiga is an international tax specialist and primarily advises both multinational companies operating in Mexico and Mexican companies with business abroad. Jorge Correa is a market-leading tax expert with strengths in capital markets and financial products, while Luis Vázquez is the most senior contact for litigation and other contentious tax matters. Talented younger partner Eduardo Brandt focuses on corporate and international tax in relation to financial, capital markets and M&A transactions; and counsel Luis Salinas supports the tax controversy practice. Former practice head Alejandro Santoyo left the firm in June 2024.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘Creel's tax practice stands out for the technical capacity of its partners and associates. Faced with a stricter tax environment, companies and their managers require more than lawyers, business advisors. Creel's interdisciplinary team provides comprehensive advice that offers solutions to highly complex problems, which makes it stand out from the rest of the firms.’
‘The interdisciplinary team that Creel's tax practice has allows them to provide comprehensive advice. Specifically, the fact of having lawyers, accountants and transfer pricing specialists has proven to be useful in solving problems since these are approached from different points of view, accounting and legal being one of the most relevant.’
‘They construct an excellent relationship with the client that is reflected in the interest in getting to know the business in depth and the real objectives of their projects. We admire the closeness and promptness in addressing concerns, and the quality of the preparation of creative, efficient solutions. and effective.’
‘High level of knowledge on Mexican tax rules and experience with novel arguments. Able to find solutions where other firms were not.’
‘Team of high technical knowledge, practical, with great availability and service to customers. They have a great balance between technical knowledge and the ability to easily execute the proposed solutions.’
‘The tax team has provided excellent service to our clients and it has been extremely easy for us to work with them on important litigation projects. The litigious matters in which our clients and we have had the opportunity to work with the Creel tax team are matters that require professionals with specialization in different branches of law such as administrative, commercial, telecommunications and technology, and the tax team of Creel has come out to collect the opinions and suggestions of all the participants to incorporate them into his writings and promotions within the trials.’
‘We believe that their best qualities are the detailed monitoring of the different stages of the process, the communication to the other participants in litigious matters, as well as their knowledge of precedents both from his firm and from third parties.’
‘Alejandro Santoyo is a benchmark in the Mexican market, the most outstanding lawyer in tax consulting in Mexico. Omar Zúñiga is also highly efficient and is able to explain complex topics in a simple way.’

Key clients

Meta
Apollo Global Management
Canadian Pacific Railway
Citigroup
Fifa
BlackRock
Univision
Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
StepStone
AT&T

Work highlights

Advising Apollo Global Management on its conversion of a debtor-in-possession (DIP) facility into Grupo Aeromexico (AMX), as a result of AMX´s chapter 11 procedures in the US.
Advised StepStone Group on the structuring of a $102.5m public offering of a securitised portfolio of direct loans via Certificados Bursátiles Fiduciarios on Mexico’s BIVA stock exchange.
Acted for Citigroup on the tax aspects related to the purchase of the Mexican subsidiary of Deutsche Bank´s licensed entity.