International & Cross-Border Capabilities | Global

The law firm's cross-border activity is typically M&A and financing work, with the top-end banking team often involved in international bond work and associated structuring. The firm is also engaged in a significant amount of oil and gas work, having gained a global profile in the sector due to representing Petrobras in relation to its extensive overseas and international interests, including its complex divestment programme.

Multi-jurisdictional transactions are a major component of the law firm's international activity, with deals that see the team advising Brazilian companies on how to globalise via dual or multi-track listings, typically working with US and international firms to float companies in São Paulo and New York. The law firm's full-service platform also includes notable international capacity across financing, M&A, disputes and energy, with the firm playing an important role for several international parties involved in the Petrobras divestment programme. Other important areas of expertise such as corporate investigations, tax, investment funds and competition law attract global corporations across industry sectors, with the firm representing some major players in the financial, automotive, energy and logistics sectors.

The law firm's high reputation in financing and M&A work is built from significant cross-border experience, with the firm displaying the capacity to lead advice to domestic clients on outbound acquisitions, joint ventures and expansion into Europe. Recent cross-border activity includes several IPOs involving multi-jurisdictional listings and work related to the mining sector, representing foreign parties investing in the Latin American mining industry in transactions and major multiparty disputes. The firm also has several teams focused on specific global work channels, including jurisdictions in Western Europe, and has offices in California and Tokyo to assist on matters involving US and Japan-based clients.

The firm's track record in cross-border M&A is central to this appeal, and the practice has assisted as local counsel on a long line of cross-border acquisitions. Demarest has experience acting for Brazilian companies that are the target of foreign investment and in other instances of advising foreign acquirers on Brazilian law issues, and it is recognised for its focused teams advising on inbound investment from China, Korea and Spain. Other areas of strength in the international space include the firm's international trade practice, which is among the leaders in the country.

TozziniFreire is a full-service practice, distinguished in the Brazilian market due to its outstanding experience in complex cross-border investigations matters. With global compliance and the increasingly broad activity of regulatory authorities worldwide becoming a common challenge for multinational companies, the firm has positioned itself well to advise Brazilian and foreign companies on how to navigate a complex international environment, including tax and competition law regulation.

One of BMA's founders, Dominique Bétourné Walter, has previously practised in Paris, a significant global channel for the firm's international work involving cross-border activity with France. The law firm hosts a French desk staffed by lawyers across its offices in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro which advises French investors on inbound investments into Brazilian entities, particularly in regard to M&A activity and energy projects. The law firm is also able to advise clients in multiple languages, with most of its lawyers able to communicate in Spanish and English as well as Portuguese.

Cescon, Barrieu, Flesch & Barreto Advogados is picked out for its strong experience in transactional work with international components. Built around the outstanding reputation and track record of founding partner Maria Cristina Cescon, the firm is frequently engaged on complex, high-value cross-border M&A mandates, typically acting as Brazilian counsel on major foreign and inbound investment matters. With strong groups covering banking and capital markets matters, the law firm can offer a very complete range of transactional law services, in line with the expectations of international clients.

Lefosse Advogados has a strong history of engagement on international issues and has consistently carved out a role as Brazilian counsel feeding local law expertise into larger global deals. The law firm's focus internationally is primarily transactional in nature, with an outstanding reputation in capital markets work, including equity issuances, IPOs and securitisation transactions. Corporate/M&A and tax matters with cross-border elements are also adeptly handled by the firm.

Particular areas of activity include cross-border M&A, on which the firm is regularly a trusted Brazilian counsel acting on behalf of foreign investors. The law firm is also noted for the international aspects of its financing and capital markets work, particularly in the projects and energy spaces, and has handled a number of recent debt capital markets deals which involved issues being coordinated across jurisdictions.

Veirano has a longstanding reputation for representing foreign clientele, with a long track record of advising international companies with investments and business operations in Brazil. The law firm's clients continue to include many global brands, and it serves the Brazilian law needs of multinational companies across banking, electronics, energy and aviation.

Distinguished Brazilian firm Campos Mello Advogados draws upon its association with major global firm DLA Piper to advise international clients on the Brazilian law aspects of large cross-border deals. The DLA Piper network is regularly highlighted by sources as delivering an integrated approach to an array of transactional and contentious proceedings. 

Tauil & Chequer is in a strategic alliance with the international law firm Mayer Brown, which gives clients ready access to a global platform and plays a vital role in the cross-border work carried out by the wider firm, particularly in relation to oil and gas and project financing. The team offers a wealth of expertise in prominent cross-border transactions and is routinely called upon by large energy companies to advise on M&A, contractual matters, financing and regulatory issues arising from complex LNG projects.

Trench Rossi Watanabe acts as the Brazilian representative of the international law firm Baker McKenzie, which offers one of the most expansive and established international footprints in the legal industry, and its global reach is frequently referred to by multinational clients as one of its primary assets. The law firm as a whole enjoys an excellent reputation for its international and cross-border capabilities, and is often praised for the smooth execution and collaboration clients experience across the firm's network.