Federico Arturo Gurdián Sacasa

Practice Areas

Federico Gurdián is Senior Partner of García & Bodán Managua (Nicaragua) and Regional Director of the Corporate and Transactional practice area of the firm.

With great technical strength and extensive experience in corporate matters and mergers and acquisitions, he has led a significant number of lawyers in notorious transactions have taken place in recent years in the Central American region, providing high quality legal counsel to national and foreign companies in a variety of industrial sectors.

Clients value his vast expertise; as well as his extensive knowledge and deep analysis of legislation and legal dispositions applicable to any particular case, that allows him to foresee problems before they occur, using a meticulous and responsible approach.

His professional practice includes corporate-commercial, mergers and acquisitions, tax, labor, real estate, banking and finance, trusts, antitrust, consumer protection, data privacy, free zones and non-governmental organizations.

Practice areas:

- Corporate-Commercial

- Mergers and Acquisitions

- Labor

- Real Estate

- Banking & Finance

- Antitrust

- Consumers Law

- Free Zones

- Non-governmental Organizations and Foundations

- Capital Markets

Professional Memberships

- International Bar Association (IBA).

- Co Chair of the Latin America & Caribbean Membership Committee of the of the International Law Section of the American Bar Association (ABA).

- Member of the Board of Directors of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce of Nicaragua (CAMACOES).

- Member of the Board of Directors of the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Nicaragua (EUROCAM).

- Member of the Board of Directors of the Nicaraguan Costa Rican Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CADICONIC).

- Member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce of Nicaragua (AmCham).

Publications

- Contribution in Annual Report of World Bank and the International Finance Corporation “Doing Business”, 2011, 2013-2019.

- Speaker on public–private partnership conferences in Nicaragua, 2017.

- Speaker on “Legal landmarks for selling, investing and doing business in Nicaragua” – Live and Invest Conference, Nicaragua, 2015.

- Legal Co-author “The Notorious Trademark in Comparative Law”.

- Speaker on Investment Forum, Official Investment and Export Promotion Agency of Nicaragua (PRONicaragua), 2008.

- Speaker on tax issues, PRONicaragua, 2008.

- Legal Co-Author “The America’s Restructuring and Insolvency Guide” with PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2004-2005.

Work Highlights

- Counseled to the buyer, a French investment fund specialized in sustainable forestry projects, in their acquisition of Nicaraguan company which owns coffee plantations and precious woods forests in Nicaragua.

- Counseled to multinational company in due diligence for the acquisition of the biggest casino operator in Nicaragua in corporate, labor, compliance, tax and customs issues, among others.

- Counseled a cigar manufacturer in securing lines of credit for USD 11 million granted by a national bank.

- Counseled to a leader cigar manufacturer in their sale of equity of the company´s subsidiary in Nicaragua to a global leading tobacco company.

- Counseled to the buyer, a French manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses and optical equipment, for the acquisition of a Nicaraguan operation, of a Costa Rican company who owns of the biggest optical chains and optical lab in the region.

- Counseled Cargill Nicaragua, S.A. in the conformation, regulation, administration and implementation of the first plan fund or retirement plan in Nicaragua approved by the Ministry of Labor (MITRAB), called “PorVenir”.

- Counseled a group of foreign plaintiffs in a suit for contractual breach against business group focused on the sale and development of real estate in Nicaragua, which sold them properties which it subsequently failed to develop. The firm also represented the clients in promoting a criminal investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office against the legal representative of the group, for fraud.

- Assisted Keiser University in the coordination and elaboration of due diligence required for a seamless transition of Ave Maria University, Latin American Campus, to Keiser University, the only university in the US based in Nicaragua; as well as registration of Keiser University in Nicaragua so as to operate said campus.

- Counseled and assisted Stanley Black and Decker in preparations to start operations in Central America and the Dominican Republic through the establishment of local branch offices.

- Counseled to ThermaSource the number one company in the United States in the drilling of geothermal wells, in the structuring of its first operation outside of the United States. Legal advice consisted in to create the legal structure necessary to operate in Nicaragua in the field of geothermal energy, tax and besides, legal opinion on laws that provide incentives to those investing in renewable resources energy generation.

- Counseled in the acquisition of Nicaraguan Telecommunications Company (Enitel) by América Móvil, which now operates under the brand Claro.

Languages Spoken

Spanish

English

Education