Eduardo Cárdenas

Practice Areas

Corporate; Banking and Fiannce; M&A; Trusts, Estates and Wealth Preservation; Private Wealth High Net worth; Real Estate

Career

Eduardo is a partner at Dentons and heads the Firm’s Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions. His other main focus areas are Banking & Finance and Family Office and High Net Worth. Major legal directories universally rank him as a leading Tier I lawyer.

For over 40 years Eduardo has practiced corporate law, focusing on mergers and acquisitions of the most complex, high-value transactions in Colombia’s history. His practice benefits from a period as Microsoft Corporation’s senior regional counsel for Latin America. His client list features active, leading local and foreign entities in all major sectors of the Colombian economy and leading corporate clients based across Latin America, USA, Europe and Asia Pacific, including financial services, consumer goods, energy and natural resources, telecommunications, manufacturing and transportation.

Professional Memberships

Member, International Bar Association (IBA).

Member, College of Commercial Lawyers.

Member, College of Universidad del Rosario Lawyers.

Member, College of mining and Petroleum Lawyers.

Member, Board of Universidad del Rosario.

Experience

Real Estate experience

Confidential client: Advising on pre-litigation demand letters and legal opinions regarding real estate assets owned by the diplomatic mission of a foreign government in Colombia. The office suffered flooding, causing damages. Advised client on options to remedy the anomalies faced by the tenant.

Black Orchid Real Estate S.A.S.: Advising on the acquisition of a plot of land located in the city of Cienaga Magdalena, with an area of 24 hectares and its subsequent negotiation and execution of a lease agreement with a company that will incorporate a solar energy project in the plot owned by our client.

Cárdenas Villa & Cia S. en C. – Gran América Project: Advising the company Cárdenas Villa & Cia on the acquisition of a plot of land located in the city of Bogotá and its subsequent contribution to a trust that will carry out a significant real estate development consisting of 16 properties, with a surface area of approximately 3,000 square meters. The project will be used for housing and will have a commercial space.

Private Capital Fund Azur – Compartimento Dorado Plaza: Advising on the sale of 159 properties located in the Dorado Plaza Shopping Center in favor of an investment vehicle of the Real Estate Collective Investment Fund Sura AM Rentas Inmobiliarias. Eduardo acted as legal advisor to the Fund in the structuring, drafting and negotiation of all relevant documents, including, but not limited to, the promise of sale, the public deed of sale, the assignment of lease agreements and the correction of certain contingencies identified in the due diligence.

BKAL S.A.S.: Acting as local counsel of BKAL on the acquisition of 16 restaurants formerly owned by Alsea. Dentons carried out the legal due diligence and advised BKAL in the structuring and negotiation of the terms of the acquisition and of all the agreements involved in the transaction.

Corporate experience

Ford: Advising on the incorporation of a subsidiary and a particular kind of company (sociedad anónima simplificada S.A.S.) to perform their imports, sale and marketing of their products. Advising on corporate, labor, tax, habeas data, intellectual property, and consumer protection claims.

Alpina S.A.S.: Advising on the creation of the company Grupo Alpina S.A.S., the group's holding company and on the roll-up of the companies that would make up the group.

Microsoft: Advising permanently on contractual, corporate, intellectual property and labor matters.

WPP: Advising on corporate law to companies of the group.

Mergers and Acquisitions experience

Confidential Client: Advising on the acquisition of a Colombian software company specializing in customs declarations by a global logistics software provider. The transaction strengthens the buyer's presence in Latin America and involves key legal structuring in pricing, intellectual property, and data protection compliance. Our team supports due diligence, negotiation, and regulatory alignment to ensure a smooth transition and integration.

Incofin Investment Management: Advising on the USD 12 million sale of 100% of Microfinanciera Fundeser S.A. to Grupo Atlántida. Support included regulatory guidance, drafting transactional documents, and advising on key terms with Dentons Nicaragua and Dentons US.

Incofin Investment Management: Provided legal advice to Incofin Investment Manager in the sale of its shares of Microfinanciera Fundeser through two of its funds (i) Rural Impulse Fund II (RIF II) and (ii) agRIF. Both stakes were sold to Inversiones Tres Lagos S.L., a subsidiary of Grupo Atlantida, one of the largest Central American financial groups.

Incofin, BIO, FMO and Triple Jump: Advising Incofin, BIO, FMO and Triple Jump on the acquisition of Banco Popular in Honduras. Banco Popular is the most import microfinance institution in the country. Amount of the transaction: US$ 13 million.

Confidential Client: Advising the client on the sale of 100% of its shares to HMTV1, an American media company.

Confidential Client: Advising the client on the acquisition of a regional newspaper in Colombia.

Banking and Finance experience

Raiffeisen Bank: Advising Raiffeisen Bank on the financing granted to Ultracem S.A.S. Amount of the transaction: US$ 10 million.

ExcelCredit: Advising ExcelCredit on the financing granted by Bancolombia S.A. to fund its promissory notes operation in Colombia. Amount of the transaction: US$ 35 million.

Kawa Capital Partners: Advising Kawa Capital Partners, as lender, in the financing of ExcelCredit S.A.S. to originate payroll loans for an amount of US$12,5 million and subsequent extensions and increases of the credit line.

Accial Capital Management LLC: Advising on the US$10 million financing to Aflore S.A.S., a fintech microlending company that specializes in providing financing to small companies and households in Colombia, particularly to women, that are not part of the formal banking system in Colombia.

MasterCard Worldwide: Advising on the authorization process for the constitution of a managing entity of a low volume payment system subject to the supervision of the Colombian Finance Superintendence.

Blue Palm Advisors S.A.S.: Advising Blue Palm Advisors S.A.S., as manager of the Fondo de Capital Privado Aqua – Compartimento III in the request for the authorization from the Colombian regulator in the acquisition of 52% of the share equity of Financiera Dann Regional S.A. Compañía de Financiamiento.

Bancolombia S.A.: Advising Bancolombia S.A. as lender in two credit agreements with two trusts of Consorcio Concesionaria del Desarrollo Vial de la Sabana for the refinancing of a credit facility and for a cash out by the sponsors of the toll road concession. Amount of the transaction COP$660 billion.

Languages Spoken

English

French

Spanish

Education

Awards