Braz, Coelho, Campos, Veras, Lessa e Bueno Advogados

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FIRM OVERVIEW

Braz, Coelho, Campos, Veras, Lessa e Bueno Advogados is one of the most respected Brazilian law firms in the areas of Infrastructure, Public Law and Arbitration. Recognized by the main legal rankings in the world, the firm is highlighted as aninfrastructure one-stop shop. The firm has 3 offices in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and São Paulo). The team is made up of 15 partners, more than 40 lawyers and more than 80 employees in total. With high expertise and solid academic background team of lawyers, some are considered great authorities in Infrastructure and Public Law matters. With more than 40 books and 250 scientific articles published, the firm's team of lawyers has intense academic activity.

KEY PARTNERS

• Felipe Henrique Braz
• Leonardo Coelho
• Rafael Véras
• Luiz Eduardo Lessa Silva
• Rodrigo Ponce Bueno

CLIENTS

• Braskem
• General Electric
• Copel
• Cemig
• CPFL
• Rumo
• Comgas
• Ipiranga
• Transpetro
• Raízen
• CCR
• J&F
• OHL (Obrascon Huarte Lain S/A)
• GIC Private Limited (Singapore's foreign reserves)
• Anglo American
• Amil
• Ultracargo
• Cyrela
• Plaenge
• Pátria Investments
• Arauco
• Aegea
• Liebherr
• MetrôRio (Concessão Metroviária do Rio de Janeiro)
• Rio Ônibus (Concessão de Transporte Coletivo do Rio de Janeiro)
• Ferroport
• Invepar
• Porto do Açu
• Grupo JMalucelli
• Ebanx
• Funbio
• BAMIN (Eurasian Resources Group)
• Eneva
• Tereos
• Dataprom
• InterAlli
• Helisul Aviação
• LAMSA (Linha Amarela S/A)
• Hotéis Mabu

EXPERTISE

• Infrastructure: With outstanding performance in the Infrastructure area, the firm advises large companies on projects, transactions and conflict resolution in the Energy, Oil & Gas, Ports, Public Sanitation, Highways, Railways, Public Transport, Telecommunications, Mining, Public Procurement and Heavy Construction. The Infrastructure department is coordinated by the partners Rafael Véras, Leonardo Coelho and Felipe H. Braz, and advises clients on bids, concessions, public-private partnerships (PPP), development and financing of projects of the most varied sizes and in the structuring of specific contracts of the heavy construction sector, such as EPC, EPCM, DBB, DB, PCM, CMR, DBO, BOT and Alliance Contracts. With in-depth knowledge of the infrastructure sector, the firm provides complete advice to clients in all legal aspects involving infrastructure projects.
• Arbitration: The firm also has a strong presence in arbitration, which is coordinated by partner Felipe H. Braz, having represented clients in proceedings before the main arbitration chambers in Brazil and around the world, such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Arbitration and Mediation Center of the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce (CAM-CCBC), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), International Investment Arbitration Center (ICSID), Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC), as well as in arbitration ad hoc.
• Coporate Law: The Corporate Law practice focuses on corporate operations, M&A, joint ventures, corporate governance, asset management business contracts, private equity, intellectual property, debt restructuring and judicial recovery. Coordinated by partners Luiz Lessa and Rodrigo Bueno, the department provides consultancy and represents large companies in the construction, energy, oil & gas, highways, urban mobility, pharmaceutical, health, technology, hotel and transport sectors.
• Tax: The firm provides consultancy in federal, state and municipal taxes, as well as acts in judicial and administrative litigation of all spheres. Coordinated by partner Olavo Leite Neto, the Tax department provides advice on matters of taxation of legal entities in the exercise of their activities and in cases of merger and acquisition operations and in the structuring of investments, and of individuals, in succession planning. The litigation team acts in the sponsorship of relevant and prominent causes in the formation of precedents.

OFFICES

• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Curitiba, Brazil
• São Paulo, Brazil

RECENT WORK HIGHLIGHTS

• Represents Aliança Energia (a joint venture between Vale S.A. and Cemig Geração & Transmissão S.A.) and Consórcio Candonga (consortium formed between Vale and Aliança) before the Brazilian State Courts in lawsuits against Samarco, related to the "Mariana Disaster" (Samarco dam collapse), which caused the transport and silting of 9 million cubic meters of ore waste to the reservoir of the UHE Risoleta Neves, a hydroelectric plant located on the Doce River (Minas Gerais). Also represents Aliança Energia before the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) in regulatory matters related to the impacts of the Mariana disaster on the concession contract for the exploration of the Risoleta Neves hydroelectric plant.
• Advised Rumo Logística on multiple issues involving regulatory and contractual aspects of the railway and port sectors, including (i) representation in regulatory arbitration before ANTT, against Ferrovia Norte-Sul S.A.; (ii) representation before the Ministry of Transport, the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) on strategic issues involving the new regulatory framework for authorized railways; (iii) legal advice in the performance of the concession contracts of Malha Paulista, Malha Central and Malha Sul, involving permanent legal advisory in several regulatory matters;
• Advised Comgás (Companhia de Gás de São Paulo) in regulatory and legal matters related to the process of the Concession Contract 5th Ordinary Tariff Review. The advisory services included the preparation of consultancy opinions, communications with the Granting Authority and participation in technical meetings, pursuiting to define the legal and economic strategies to be used in the 5th Ordinary Tariff Review. Comgás is the main piped gas distributor in Brazil, serving more than 2.3 million users through 20,000 kilometres of gas pipelines in 90 municipalities in the state of São Paulo. The work involved all the economic and financial aspects occurred in the concession, in the period between 2018-2024, in order to present to the regulatory agency the Business Plan that should be followed in the next tariff cycle.
• Represents Cemig (energy distribution concessionaire in Minas Gerais) in several legal proceedings related to requests for solar plants to be connected to the energy distribution system. Due to the accelerated growth of solar energy, several solar plants began to be built in the State of Minas Gerais, which has the highest insolation rate in Brazil, causing the capacity for new connections to be exhausted in the energy substations of the distribution concessionaire in Minas Gerais.
• Advised Braskem in the geological phenomenon that caused the sinking of the soil in 3 neighbourhoods of Maceió, involving the provision of USD 201,126,307.32 in balance sheet for indemnity of those affected. Legal counselling with supervision and development of an economic-financial evaluation about the lost profits related to the 30 largest equipment, that involve public services such as public transportation concessions, water and sewage pumping stations, and large-sized businesses, in order to guide the indemnity agreement related to lost profits.
• Advised Boskalis (Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V.) on multiple issues involving a public contract regarding dredging and demolition projects in the Port of Paranaguá (south of Brazil).
• Represented Linha Amarela S.A. (LAMSA) in the administrative process of expropriation of the highway concession by the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro.
• Represented Anglo American in a federal lawsuit, filed by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, against State of Amapá, Anglo American and other companies, related to the implementation of the iron ore extraction project in Pedra Branca do Amapari/AP and the discovery of 37 archaeological sites in the area of mining explotation.
• Represented Petrobras Transportes S.A. (Transpetro) in a lawsuit related to the transition agreement that allows it to carry out port activities at the Alemoa Terminal.

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