Cleary managing partner Mark Walker said in a statement from the firm: “Brazil is a significant part of our Latin America practice, which began over 50 years ago and includes more than 100 lawyers.”
New York partner Juan Giráldez and Rome partner Francisco Cestero will manage the Brazil office. Both will relocate to São Paulo. Giráldez focuses on international financing and business transactions, in particular capital markets transactions, M&A, cross-border financings, joint ventures and privatizations. Cestero has assisted América Móvil, the largest wireless operator in Latin America, in over 10 international acquisitions and joint ventures.
Cleary plans to staff the São Paul office with around 10 lawyers who will focus on capital markets, project finance and restructuring, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues, corporate governance, and litigation.
Cleary’s planned move into the market is the latest in a string of Brazil entries over the past two years by Am Law 100 and Magic Circle law firms, including Skadden, DLA Piper and Chadbourne & Parke. The market is appealing to firms with strong cross-border capital markets and infrastructure practices.
A leading international law firm with 12 offices located in major financial centers around the world, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has helped shape the globalization of the legal profession for more than 60 years. Organized and operated as a single, integrated global partnership, Cleary Gottlieb employs approximately 1,100 lawyers.