Iker Arriola Peñalosa

Practice Areas

Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate and Commercial

Career

Iker is the Europe-based partner of Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez at the Madrid office. Iker represents and advises clients on a variety of matters and transactions, specializing in corporate and mergers and acquisitions.

Since September 2022, Iker has led the Firm’s European office in Madrid.

With nearly three decades of professional experience advising national and international companies, our clients turn to Iker for senior strategic advice and vision for their most important projects. Our clients recognize his technical expertise and broad perspective in the transactional, regulatory, and business sectors in Mexico.

Iker has been involved in a wide range of legal matters, primarily in mergers and acquisitions of public and private companies (including privatizations) and business alliances, but also in disputes between investors and shareholders. Furthermore, Iker has extensive experience in operations in both national and international capital markets

Among his notable M&A and equity investment matters, Iker participated in the acquisition of Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana by Kansas City Southern; the initial public offering of Financiera Independencia, SOFOM on the Mexican Stock Exchange; the sale by Pfizer Inc. of its nutrition business to Nestlé S.A. (awarded “Merger Control Matter of the Year” by Global Competition Review in 2013); the sale of Comex USA to Sherwin Williams; the sale of Consorcio Comex to PPG Industries, Inc. (Mexico’s largest private M&A transaction in 2014); the sale of Universidad del Valle de México to Laureate Education Inc.; the sale of Grupo Turín to Mars Inc.; in Live Nation Entertainment Inc.’s acquisition of control of OCESA; and the co-investment of Grupo Financiero Banorte with Rappi for the creation of a digital bank.

In distressed M&A matters, he has represented companies and investors across various sectors, including real estate finance, freight transportation, education, automotive, and telecommunications. Recently, he advised Altán Redes and its shareholders in the restructuring of Altán Redes as part of a pre-pack process, facilitating the company’s exit from bankruptcy proceedings, which was recognized as the “International Company Turnaround/Transaction of the Year 2023” by the Turnaround and Transaction Award Committee.

Over the years, Iker also has participated in more than 100 cross-border transactions involving Mexican assets, either representing buyers or sellers. Recently, for instance, he represented InvestIndustrial in the acquisition of Delta Tecnic and Midea Group in the acquisition of Teka Group.

Additionally, Iker has extensive experience in competition law matters, including antitrust investigations and merger proceedings. He has represented clients in a diverse range of investigations and antitrust litigation across industries and sectors such as pharmaceuticals, construction, consumer goods, food and beverages, transportation, energy, financial services, and telecommunications.

Throughout these years of professional experience, Iker has also been involved in commercial arbitration and administrative, civil, commercial, and corporate litigation. In various cases, Iker has led the coordination of strategic litigation matters across multiple areas.

Iker has been recognized for several years as a Leading Lawyer in Mexico across various areas by the most prestigious international publications, including Chambers and Partners y The Legal 500. Among other special recognitions, in 2012, he was named one of the “30 Promises Under 30” by Expansión magazine. In 2024, he was recognized as one of Latin America’s most outstanding lawyers in the first edition of the M&A Powerlist Latin America published by The Legal 500. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, he was recognized as a “Stand-out Lawyer” by the renowned publication Thomson Reuters.

Iker currently serves or has served as an independent board member for several companies, mainly in the financial sector.

Iker earned his law degree from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and a Master’s in European Union Community Law at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His native language is Spanish, and he is fluent in English.