Pruzzo Ruscica Brotfeld Abogados

Managing Partner: Francisco Brotfeld

Partners: Dino Pruzzo, Javier Ruscica, Francisco Brotfeld

Number of other lawyers: 7

FIRM OVERVIEW:

Pruzzo Ruscica Brotfeld Abogados is a law firm specialized in environmental, water rights and energy practice. Its purpose is to provide timely service with a sense of strategy to clients with complex needs, mostly concentrated in the mining, electricity generation and transmission, ports, desalination, agribusiness, utilities, construction, and infrastructure projects sectors.

The ultimate goal of the firm is to create a new way of providing legal services, generating a different value proposition, where the partner is involved directly in the work with the client, providing comprehensive and efficient legal advice to the client´s business. PRB pursue complex challenges to provide a legal vision that is both preventive and strategic, as well as focused on crisis management in the execution of investment projects, assessing risks and suggesting innovative solutions.

MAIN AREAS OF PRACTICE:

Environment: The firm offers legal and strategic advice on the assessment, development, and modification of investment projects by providing opinions and carrying out risk analyses to make decisions, and on the elaboration and filing of environmental authorizations before the Service of Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA). The team is significantly experienced in preventive legal environmental audits carried out at different facilities from investment projects, identifying risks and non-conformities in facilities and processes, suggesting courses of action that enable the industry to continue operating.

Water rights and desalination: The firm advise clients on the obtainment and modification of water rights and in connection to their regularization. Its lawyers are also involved in the obtainment of sectorial permits and the administrative and judicial defense of clients facing decisions issued by the General Water Direction. Furthermore, the firm is greatly experienced and has considerable knowledge on desalination projects, combining in this subject its expertise in environment, mining law and maritime concessions, together with our strong expertise in the negotiation of the contracts needed for the development of such projects.

Energy: The firm is highly experienced in the power transmission market and deeply involved in the development of these type of projects, as well as advising its clients in project bids, open access requests, interconnection contracts, discrepancy processes before the Experts Panel and other highly complex regulatory matters, being in permanent contact with sectorial authorities.

Also, the firm provides legal support to its clients in M&A processes for the acquisition of utility scale and small distributed generation projects, providing a regulatory and commercial vision in their negotiation stage to be acquired, in addition to a series of other matters related to the generation market and the development of projects in this segment, such as negotiation of PPAs, project development contracts, constitution of easements, among others. Additionally, the firm has been deeply involved in the development of hydrogen and green ammonia projects, contributing with the regulatory analysis on these matters, as well as in the subsequent development of these projects (negotiation of easements, lease agreements, energy supply contracts, among others).

Projects: Although this is the first time that PRB applies for this area, it has been since its formation as one of its most relevant practices and in which it has provided advice to highly complex projects.

One of the fundamental characteristics of PRB is to have very specialized practice areas, but that at the same time have a great synergy between them, so that it allows them to advise their clients integrally, for projects from sea to mountain range. Thus, they have participated in mining, energy, sanitary, desalination and other types of infrastructure projects.

Often, the role that the firm assumes in the framework of such projects is to lead the progress, anticipate risks, propose solutions and support the areas of the companies in the execution of those solutions, taking advantage in this position of all the in-house experience of partner Francisco Brotfeld, who with a long previous experience in a transmission company, is able to understand the needs of its clients from his own vision and needs.

PRB's main strengths in this practice area are associated with the development of the projects themselves, from the point of view of their permits, bidding processes, corporate structuring, contract negotiations (BOO, BOOT, EPC, etc.), but also during their construction, providing assistance mainly to the SPVs in their relationship with their contractors and supporting them in claims matters. Finally, it should be noted that although PRB does not have a financing area as such, the firm has experience in this area, and its partner Francisco Brotfeld regularly supports its clients in these aspects, assuming a role of consiglieri in the context of such financings, protecting their interests in their capacity as sponsors.

Infraestructure: The firm provides guidance in the elaboration and revision of EPC, BOOT, O&M and other agreements about different relevant areas related to infrastructure, successfully contributing in contract negotiations within competitive bidding processes for the acquisition of these kind of projects (such as, desalination, generation and transmission projects).

Corporate and M&A: The team provides advice to different companies in connection to all type of corporate matters and to boards of directors from both public and privately held companies. The office has also been involved in a variety of asset and company acquisitions, under complex business structures, both in Chile and abroad.

Regulatory litigation: The firm advise its clients on the development of strategies and defenses in administrative and judicial instances that come from the planning and execution their investment projects.

Maritime Concessions: The firm provides advice on the obtainment of maritime concessions, as well as their renewal, modification and transfer, and all related matters.

Mining: The firm is a leading firm with expertise in the process of obtaining mining concessions, granting mining easements, sectorial permits, as well as in providing consultancy services on mining agreements, including their elaboration and review.

CLIENTS:

AES Andes S.A., Empresas CMPC S.A., Transelec S.A., Enap, Sunsweet, Frusan, Generadora Metropolitana, HIF, EDF Renewables, Acciona, Trina Solar, Latin American Power, Innergex, Red Eléctrica Internacional, Grupo Saesa, Grenergy, Engie Energía S.A., Mainstream, Colbún, Pacific Hydro, Oenergy, UKA Group, Aguas Horizonte, Aguas Esperanza, Aguas de Antofagasta, Grupo Icafal, Minera Los Pelambres, Minera Candelaria, Minera Antucoya, Tratacal, Emasa, Teleférico Bicentenario, Inmobiliaria FG, Dole, Olivares de Quepu, Muelles de Penco, Pares & Álvarez, Grupo Cial Alimentos, Colbún S.A., BHP Billiton.

LANGUAGES:

Spanish, English.

RANKED OFFICES:

Provided by Pruzzo Ruscica Brotfeld Abogados

Chile - Head office

Santiago

Avenida Santa María 6350, office 308, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile

Web: www.prb.cl

Tel: +562 2437 0249