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A Sociedade

Chambers Europe

Peers agree that this experienced group should remain at the top of the rankings because it is one of the largest firms in Portugal and because of its repeated involvement in headline deals. For example, the team recently assisted Sonaecom with the financing of the hostile public bids for the entire share capital acquisition of Portugal Telecom and of PT Multimédia. Its lawyers received enthusiastic praise for the “terrific quality of their work, business-oriented approach and ethical attitude.” While clients highlighted the “strong bench of associates behind the leading lawyers” competitors underlined that the merger with Porto-based firm Osório de Castro, Verde Pinho, Vieira Peres, Lobo Xavier e Associados enhanced the firm’s banking team as well as its “impressive client portfolio of national and international clients." Clients/Work Highlights: The group advised an international syndicate of banks on the Portuguese law aspects of the financing and creation of a security package for the EUR520 million acquisition of Amorim Imobiliária by Inmobiliaria Chamartin. The team also assisted a bank syndicate headed by Eurohypo Aktiengesellschaft on the Portuguese law aspects of a global financing made available to British Land for the purchase of properties in Europe, including the EUR39 million acquisitions of two Portuguese retail parks in Portimão and Aveiro. The outfit also represented Portuguese banks in the EUR400 million financial rebalance agreement entered into between the Concessionaire of the North Motorway and the Portuguese Republic. Other key clients include CaixaBI; BES Investimento; Millennium bcp investimento and EDP - Energias de Portugal.
After a busy year advising Sonaecom and Millennium bcp on their groundbreaking takeover bids for Portugal Telecom and Banco BPI respectively, the firm has convinced many commentators that it is a force to be reckoned with in the corporate and private equity markets. Sources commented: “The group possesses plenty of resources and masses of potential to be one of the main national players.” Recently the team advised ECS Capitals on the incorporation of the largest private equity fund in Portugal, valued at over EUR90 million. Clients/Work Highlights: Lawyers represented EDP in the on the sale of 5% of the Portuguese energy TSO (transmission system operator) to a private equity fund.
Drawing upon its skills in both the energy and finance sectors, this practice is one of the leading names for projects work. It has experience in infrastructure and construction matters and is also taking on more environmental projects, sources report. On the renewable energy front, for instance, the team represented a syndicate of Portuguese and foreign banks in the EUR985 million refinancing of wind farms and hydropower plants. Clients are full of praise for the “outstanding quality of both the work and the lawyers,” with one competitor concluding: “This is an extremely good team.” Clients/Work Highlights: The firm advised a Portuguese syndicate of banks on EUR50 million project finance facilities granted to a Maltese parent company of a group that owns wind farms. Lawyers assisted the grantor with setting up the framework for the privatisation of ANA (the concessionaire for the Portuguese airport network) and the tender for design, financing, construction and operation of the new Lisbon airport. The group also advised a Portuguese banking syndicate on a EUR28 million project finance facilities to an entity licensed to construct and run the first hazardous waste disposal plant in Portugal. Other notable clients are RBS; Bes Investimento; Millennium bcp; EDP and Banco Português de Investimento.

Chambers Global

Peers agree that this experienced group should remain at the top of the rankings for its sheer size - it is one of the largest firms in Portugal - and its repeated involvement in headline deals. For example, the team recently assisted Sonaecom with the financing of the hostile public bids for the entire share capital acquisition of Portugal Telecom and of PT Multimedia. While clients remarked on the “strong bench of associates behind the leading lawyers,” competitors underlined that the merger with Oporto-based firm Osório de Castro, Verde Pinho, Vieira Peres, Lobo Xavier e Associados enhanced the firm’s banking team, as does its “impressive portfolio of national and international clients”. Clients/Work Highlights: The group advised an international syndicate of banks on the Portuguese law aspects of the financing and creation of a security package for the EUR520 million acquisition of Amorim Imobiliária by Inmobiliaria Chamartin. The team also assisted the bank syndicate headed by Eurohypo on the Portuguese law aspects of a global financing made available to British Land for the purchase of properties in Europe, including the EUR39 million acquisitions of two Portuguese retail parks in Portimão and Aveiro. The outfit also represented Portuguese banks in the EUR400 million financial rebalance agreement entered into between the concessionaire of the North Motorway and the Portuguese Republic. Caixa - Banco de Investimento; Bes Investimento; Millennium BCP Investimento and EDP - Energia de Portugal are other key clients of the group.
After a busy year advising Sonaecom and Millennium bcp on their ground-breaking takeovers bids for Portugal Telecom and Banco BPI respectively, the firm has convinced many commentators that it is a force to be reckoned with in the corporate and private equity markets. Sources commented: “The group possesses plenty of resources and masses of potential to be one of the main national players.” Recently the team advised ECS Capital on the incorporation of the largest private equity fund in Portugal, valued at over EUR90 million. Clients/Work Highlights: Lawyers represented EDP in the sale of 5% of the Portuguese energy transmission system operator to a private equity fund.
Drawing upon its skills in the energy and finance sectors, this practice is one of the leading names for projects work. It has experience in infrastructure and construction matters and is also taking on more environmental projects, sources report. On the renewable energy front, for instance, the team represented a syndicate of Portuguese and foreign banks in the EUR985 million refinancing of wind farms and hydropower plants. Clients are full of praise for the “outstanding quality of both the work and the lawyers,” with one competitor concluding: “This is an extremely good team.” Clients/Work Highlights: The lawyers advised an international syndicate of banks on a EUR647 million project refinancing for Tejo Energia, and advised another banking syndicate on financing facilities for a police and emergency services communications system. The team also advised on a EUR175 million financing for the developer of the Grande Lisboa motorway. Other notable clients are RBS; Bes Investimento; Millennium bcp Investimento; EDP - Energia de Portugal and Banco Português de Investimento.

Legal 500

‘If you’re looking for London standards, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is what you want.’ The firm’s outstanding reputation owes much to the ‘simply unchallenged’ Luís Branco and his team. The firm advised an international syndicate of banks in connection with security for the €520m acquisition of Amorim Imobiliária, by Spanish real estate company Inmobiliaria Chamartín. Recently promoted to partnership, Filipe Lowndes Marques has established a reputation as one of the market’s best-respected experts. Millenium BCP also instructed the firm regarding the negotiation and launch of $1.5bn extendible floating rate notes, issued by BCP Finance Bank. Up-and-coming Luísa Soares da Silva and Pedro Gorjão Henriques are also recommended.
Also a major force in project finance, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados has recently advised an international syndicate of banks on a €175.2m project financing connected with the Grande Lisboa motorway concession. The firm also acted for a Portuguese syndicate of banks regarding a complex €50m project finance structure involving a holding company in Malta in the wind farms sector. The department is led by highly regarded finance partner Luís Branco.

IFLR 1000

Morais Leitão Galvão Teles Soares da Silva & Associados is rightly considered one of the leading firms in Portugal for banking work, both relating to acquisition finance and usual syndicated lending. It is described by peers as "the obvious choice given its general reputation and also its work this year". Luis Branco is described as both technical and commercial – "two qualities that don't often come together in the same package”. One of the most significant deals in banking this year was Morais Leitão's work for Sonaecom in March 2007. The €16 billion deal was led by Luís Branco, supported by Pedro Gorjão Henriques, João Honorato and Ricardo Andrade Amaro. The team advised Sonaecom in the financing of the hostile public bids for the entire share capital of Portugal Telecom (PT) and of PT Multimédia. The offers for PT included one in the US for shares and American depositary receipts issued by Portugal Telecom which traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Morais Leitão developed the entire international financing structure, which included an innovative undertaking to pay instruments to secure the registration of the offers, the negotiation of loan agreements, related security and refinancing facilities for the target company. The transaction was regarded by all participants as one of the most complex ever in Portugal, and was fully underwritten by an international syndicate of banks. In September 2006, the firm worked on a deal worth €40 million with Eurohypo. The team, led once again by Luís Branco, and backed up by Rita Ferreira Vicente and João Honorato, advised a sydicate of banks headed by Eurohypo on aspects of Portuguese law related to the international financing of British Land for the acquisition of retail parks in Portimão and Aveiro. For the first time Eurohypo used a highly tax effective Portuguese commercial-paper structure. A Portuguese syndicate of banks including BES, BCP and CGDS used the firm in its €400 million deal in July 2006. The team advised the consortium on the financing of a financial rebalance agreement with the concessionaire of the North Motorway and the Portuguese public. The financing included facilities with recourse rights against the grantor, coupled with project finance-type facilities. In addition, Morais Leitão worked on a €520 million deal for Banesto, with Luís Branco leading and Filipe Lowndes Marques assisting. This deal saw the firm advising the client, an international syndicate of banks headed by Banesto, on aspects of Portuguese law related to financing and the creation of security in the acquisition of Amorim Imobiliária (one of the largest Portuguese real-estate companies) by Inmobiliaria Chamartin.
One banking client rates Morais Leitão as a dependable firm for project finance, highlighting the lawyers Luís Branco and Filipa Arantes Pedroso as "extremely competent". In October 2006, the firm closed a €986 million deal relating to the refinancing of a portfolio of wind farms and hydroelectric plants held by Enersis, a Portuguese renewable energy company, recently purchased by the Australian group Babcock & Brown. The transaction's lead arrangers were BBVA, BPI, BESI, CaixaBI and Millennium BCP Investimento. The deal involved the refinancing of the Enersis group on a portfolio basis, structured in two major pools of assets, making up the largest renewable-energy portfolio financing in the world to date. One pool incorporated 21 operating wind farms and four under construction with a total 635MW generating capacity, and the other encompassed 10 operating mini-hydro stations with an additional one under construction, with a total 89.1MW generating capacity. This large-scale transaction was challenging because of the twofold nature of the structures, the high number of vehicles and securities, and the need to refinance existing debt and simultaneously restructure the borrower's group. Furthermore, although the documentation was drafted in English, it was done so under Portuguese law, and was advised on solely by local counsel. The deal received much exposure and was considered one of the best, as well as being the largest, renewable deals of the year. In another deal, worth €175 million, Luís Branco and Tomás Vaz Pinto led a team advising an international syndicate of banks on project finance facilities to the concessionaire of the Grande Lisboa motorway. This transaction was particularly challenging for the banks as it was closed pending an injunction filed by the losing bidder, which meant putting in place, in a very short period of time, risk allocation mechanisms to secure the successful closure of the deal.

Advogados

Chambers Europe

Undoubtedly a high-profile name in the area, Luís Branco is dubbed “the best-known lawyer in the Portuguese banking sector.” Observers commented on how “his friendly approach makes negotiations much smoother,” and added: “He is terribly efficient and gets directly involved in all aspects of the deal.” Branco is also renowned for his top performances in the projects sphere.
Filipe Lowndes Marques was recently elevated to the partnership and is considered to be “among the brightest lawyers in Lisbon.” He is involved in banking and finance transactions, and also advises on projects and investment fund matters.
Head of the banking and project finance group, Luís Branco is lauded as “one of the best lawyers in the field, thanks to his creativity and straightforward attitude that makes transactions move smoothly.”
Interviewees also reserve praise for “thoughtful and efficient” Filipe Lowndes Marques, describing him as an “excellent team player.”

Chambers Global

Undoubtedly a high-profile name in the area, Luís Branco is dubbed “the best-known lawyer in the Portuguese banking sector.” Observers commented how “his friendly approach makes negotiations much smoother.” Branco is also renowned for his top-notch performances in the projects sphere.
Filipe Lowndes Marques was recently elevated to partner and is considered to be among the “brightest lawyers in Lisbon.” Involved in many banking and finance transactions, he also advises on projects and investment fund matters.
Tomás Vaz Pinto from the corporate is one main partner dealing with private equity matters.
Filipe Lowndes Marques from the finance department is one main partner dealing with private equity matters.
Head of the banking and project finance group, Luís Branco is lauded as “one of the best lawyers in the field, thanks to his creativeness and straightforward attitude that makes transactions move smoothly.”
Interviewees also reserve praise for “thoughtful and efficient” Filipe Lowndes Marques, describing him as an “excellent team player.”

IFLR 1000

Luís Branco

Leading Lawyer Banking
2008

Luís Branco

Leading Lawyer Project Finance
2008

Filipe Lowndes Marques

Leading Lawyer Project Finance
2008