Mexico

About

Recognized for its market-leading presence in Mexico City, White & Case, SC offers highly specialized and integrated services to its clients, bringing critical insights borne from nearly 30 years of experience in leading innovative transactions and resolving high-profile disputes.

As Mexico's investment landscape continues to evolve, more and more transactions are multijurisdictional—requiring counsel across multiple areas of law and geography. We are able to provide our clients with full-service law firm capabilities, with a strong presence in financial centers, along with the ability to harness knowledge and insight from around the world. Working from White & Case's seamless global platform, with 44 offices in 30 countries, we have the capabilities and global reach needed to handle the most challenging matters from a local perspective in Mexico and beyond, providing insight into business customs and laws in virtually every corner of the world.

Our Mexico City team has been offering clients insight into local, regional and global matters, particularly in the areas of administrative litigation, banking regulatory work, bankruptcy and restructuring, capital markets, commercial litigation, competition/antitrust, compliance, corporate M&A, energy, projects and asset finance, environmental law, fintech, international arbitration, international trade, telecommunications, tax and real estate.

Our lawyers pay special attention to the commercial objectives of our clients, and we help them reach those objectives in the most efficient and effective manner. We have advised international companies making acquisitions or developing projects in Mexico, as well as Mexican companies pursuing business abroad. To serve the best interests of our clients, our lawyers act in close cooperation with our other offices throughout the world, combining the Firm's global cross-practice and industry-specific experience with deep knowledge of local law. Our partners are highly recognized by the two most important legal publications, Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 and have 28 lawyers ranked in both publications.

 

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Tier 1: Capital Markets, Corporate M&A, Dispute Resolution: Litigation
The Legal 500, Mexico, 2021

Band 2 for Capital Markets, Corporate M&A, Banking & Finance, Bankruptcy & Restructuring
Chambers Latin America, Mexico, 2020

Latin American Petrochemicals Deal of the Year: Braskem Idesa Refinancing
IJGlobal, 2019

Latin America Power Refinancing Deal of the Year: Techgen
Proximo Awards, 2019

Standout recognition, the highest ranking, for creating BIVA, Mexico's second stock exchange
Financial Times Innovative Lawyers North America 2018

#1 in Latin American Arbitration
Latinvex, 2019

"They are a very professional team of lawyers who are highly skilled and have great knowledge of this area and key market issues. They are always very attentive and eager to assist, offering very precise advice."
Chambers Latin America, Mexico, Capital Markets, 2021

Praising the service, an impressed client highlights: "As if by magic, they are able to convey technical issues accessibly in the litigation documents, and know perfectly well how to review the arguments presented. I like that they listen to my concerns and needs and have implemented them quickly."
Chambers Latin America, Mexico, Disputes, 2021

Clients highlight the Firm's "impressive" service, with one client noting: "Their strength is their pragmatism. They anticipate clients' needs and they provide nimble responses; they know what works and what does not."
Chambers Latin America, Banking, 2021

 

Experience

Landmark judicial precedent in antitrust trial
We represented Grupo Aeroméxico in an amparo trial against a resolution (the "Resolution") issued by the Federal Antitrust Commission (the "Commission") that determined that our client's scheduling of take-offs and landings (known as slots) at Mexico City's International Airport caused inefficiencies and anticompetitive effects in the market for regular passenger transportation, and imposed several remedies to reverse the aforementioned effects.

After nearly three years of trial, on July 9, 2020, a Federal Court of Appeal issued a favorable judgment, ruling the Resolution infringed our client's constitutional rights. According to the Federal Court of Appeal, the Resolution was contrary to the constitutional principle of "separation and independence," which establishes that the authority dealing with the investigation must be different from the one that resolves the procedure. Furthermore, we successfully proved that the procedure carried out by the Commission when issuing the Resolution was illegal, given that the investigating authority disclosed information during the investigation to the resolving authority and that the latter assisted the former in conducting the investigation.

Victory for Altán Redes, preventing threat to US$7 billion project
We represented Altán Redes in an amparo trial initiated by Rivada Networks and Spectrum Frontier against the bid award of the Red Compartida project (the largest telecommunications infrastructure project in Mexico's history), issued by the Ministry of Communications and Transportations (SCT) on November 17, 2016. Rivada was disqualified from the bid proceeding for not presenting the performance bond and therefore decided to file an amparo lawsuit arguing that such documentation was not a substantial part of the technical proposal and that the authorities of the SCT were bound to request a clarification thereof prior to the disqualification. After nearly four years of trial, on June 4, 2020, a collegiate tribunal issued a favorable final judgment denying the amparo protection requested by Rivada Networks and Spectrum Frontier. In light of the above, the bid award is now irreversible and there are no potential risks to third parties, including investors and clients.

FEFA MXN 180 billion certificados bursátiles issuance
Representation of Fondo Especial para Financiamientos Agropecuarios (FEFA), a Mexican governmental development trust dedicated to agriculture, in four issuances of long-term debt certificates (FEFA 19 for MXN 2.04 billion, FEFA 19-2 for MXN 3.08 billion, FEFA 19-3 for MXN 2.4 billion and FEFA 19-4 for MXN 2 billion). Additionally, we represented FEFA in its green bond issuance (FEFA 19V) for MXN 2.5 billion (at a TIIE floating rate plus a spread of 0.14 percent), which was the first green bond in the Mexican market with forestalled proceeds. The green bond was certified by Sustainalytics and the Climate Bonds Initiative. Furthermore, we assisted FEFA in the registration of its private short/long-term debt certificates issuance program with subsequent series, for up to MXN 180 billion. It was a record-high authorization in the Mexican Stock Market.

First social bond issuance in Mexico and Latin America 
Representation of Fondo Especial para Financiamientos Agropecuarios (FEFA), a Mexican governmental development agency dedicated to grant financing in the agricultural sector, in the issuance of three tranches of bonds for a total aggregate amount of MXN 10 billion. One of the tranches was an inaugural social bond for FEFA, and the first of its kind in the domestic Mexican securities market and in Latin America. The bonds were placed via a local public placement on Bolsa Institucional de Valores (BIVA). The social bond has a gender-equality objective and proceeds were allocated to finance projects of accredited women who complied with the eligibility criteria, aligned with the 2020 Social Bond Principles established by the International Capital Market Association.

Principal Afore acquisition of MetLife Afore Capital
We represented Principal Afore, a Mexican retirement funds manager and an affiliate of the Principal Financial Group, in its acquisition of 100 percent of the stated capital of MetLife Afore.

BlackRock acquisition of Citibanamex asset management business
We represented BlackRock, Inc., an entity with approximately US$6 trillion in assets under management, in BlackRock's acquisition of the asset management business of Citibanamex, a subsidiary of Citigroup Inc. We also advised on the execution of a distribution agreement under which Citibanamex will distribute certain investment products offered by BlackRock. This transaction involved approximately US$35 billion in assets under management.

Comisión Federal de Electricidad energy and infrastructure investment trust
We represented the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), the national electric company of Mexico (100 percent owned by the Mexican government), as Mexican and New York counsel, in the first publicly traded Fibra E (energy and infrastructure investment trust) focused on Mexico's electric transmission sector and the first publicly traded company sponsored by CFE. CFE Transmisión is the subsidiary of CFE, which owns the entire National Transmission Network (Red Nacional de Transmisión) and is currently the sole provider of public transmission services in Mexico.

New Stock Exchange in Mexico: BIVA
We represented Central de Corretajes in filing a request for the incorporation and operation of a new stock exchange in Mexico (Bolsa Institucional de Valores). This is an important milestone for the Mexican financial markets.

SAE MXN 3.5 billion sale of sugar mills
We represented the Mexican Asset Administration & Sale Agency (Servicio de Administración y Enajenación de Bienes, or SAE) in the design and implementation of the sale procurement process for the sale of nine sugar mills, which represent 22.2 percent of the Mexican sugar production market. After two procurement processes, in the third (and last) public auction process, SAE awarded a contract for a total of MXN 3.4 billion (approximately US$190 million) for the sale of the two remaining sugar mills and received a price that was 144 percent higher than the initial reference price. The sale is one of the most important commercial transactions in SAE's history, and White & Case played a leading role in the vast range of corporate/M&A, procurement, regulatory and litigation issues raised in the process.