Silva Ibañez Abogados

Managing Partner: Luis Fernando Silva
Partners: Gonzalo Gutierrez, Alfredo Montes
Number of partners: 3
Number of other lawyers: 7

CONTACTS
Corporate/M&A: Luis Fernando Silva
Energy & Natural Resources: Alfredo Montes
Real Estate: Luis Fernando Silva
Finance, Restructuring & Bankruptcy: Gonzalo Gutierrez

Firm Overview:
Silva Ibáñez Abogados is a boutique law firm specialized in M&A, finance, restructuring and insolvency, energy and real estate development projects, along with corporate and commercial transactions and employment matters.

Its team of attorneys has developed a work style characterised by a thorough legal analysis, attention to details, agility in the execution, and high-quality of the final product, always bound by the highest standard of professional conduct.

Given their attorneys’ successful trajectories, both in Chile and abroad, the firm is able to provide innovative and first-class services to its clients domestically and internationally by executing complex and challenging transactions. Most of their attorneys have studied abroad and worked at some of most prestigious international law firms in the United States and Europe, and by so doing, they have embraced the highest quality standards in the legal profession. In addition, one of their partners is a New York-licensed attorney with years of experience working for a US legal firm in the United States.

Main Areas of Practice:
Corporate/M&A: 60%
Energy & Natural Resources: 15%
Real Estate: 15%
Finance, Restructuring & Bankruptcy: 10%

Corporate/M&A:
M&A is one of the core practice areas at Silva Ibáñez Abogados. The firm’s Corporate/M&A practice advises clients on the different aspects involved in the merger of companies, the acquisition and disposition of shares and assets, negotiation of joint ventures and restructurings, with an emphasis on complex cross-border deals. To that end, the firm has a tight-knit team of attorneys, including a NY-licensed attorney, with vast experience with domestic and cross-border transactions, capable of planning and executing a M&A transaction while meeting the specific requirements and challenges of the deal. A perfect complement to the firm’s transactional practice is the day-to-day representation of its corporate clients, many of which are foreign companies with operations in Chile. The firm’s corporate representation includes a wide array of corporate housekeeping services. Its clients highly appreciate the timely and accurate responses of the firm's lawyers, and their commitment and capacity to manage and execute sophisticated transactions.

Energy & Natural Resources:
The firm's Energy & Natural Resources practice advises clients on the different aspects involved in the development, construction and operation of energy projects, with an emphasis on renewable energy projects. In this niche, Silva Ibáñez Abogados has become a leading legal firm in the segment of renewable energy projects (such as solar, wind and hydraulic projects), in particular, distributed generation solar projects. Its services include legal assistance in obtaining permits, preparation and review of contracts with distributors, power purchase agreements, project finance, preparation and review of lease contracts, among others.

Real Estate:
The firm's Real Estate practice has an extensive experience representing clients in the acquisition of different types of real estate projects, especially commercial offices, residential buildings and hotels. In the segment of office and housing real estate projects, the firm’s attorneys have helped their clients develop such projects from the ground up, including the purchase of the land, the construction and the beginning of the operation of the projects. They have also participated in the acquisition of ongoing projects.

Finance, Restructuring & Bankruptcy:
The firm’s team has a vast experience helping its clients master the complexities of the financial and capital markets. It assists companies through every stage of the capital raising process, from crowdfunding to VC financing to the private and public markets. It also advises clients on all aspects of bank financing, including the negotiation of domestic and crossborder credit facilities, and helps them successfully navigate any restructuring process, including debt restructuring, distressed acquisitions/sales, insolvency proceedings, out-of-court refinancings.

International Work:
The firm was founded with a focus on international and cross-border transactions. Given the professional experience of its attorneys, the firm is capable of representing clients in highly sophisticated transactions while paying full attention to all of its clients’ legal needs. From the largest inbound foreign direct investment in Chilean agribusiness to complex acquisitions and joint ventures in the salmon industry to the “flip” of a Chilean startup in to a US corporation, and the associated fundraising, the firm’s attorneys are capable of representing their clients, domestic and foreign, in all types of deals and industries. The fact that one of the firm's senior partners is admitted in and has worked for quite some time in New York has been key to its capacity to lead and successfully close those complex multijurisdictional deals.

Languages:
Spanish, English.

Clients:
Benchmark Holdings plc, Megalux- Essilor, Universidad de los Andes and Paccar Kenworth, to name some of the firm's representative clients.