The breadth of law firm Milbank’s activities across Latin America, combined with the strength of its energy, infrastructure and project finance practice, mark it out as a top candidate for regional recognition in any given year. This past year, its prowess was especially apparent in Latin America’s two geographical extremes: Mexico and Chile.
In the latter, the firm, which wins Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year: Chile, advised on two of the most important deals over the past year. Both involved the provision of water to mining groups: the $883 million project financing for Aguas Pacífico’s Aconcagua desalination plant and related aqueduct; and, the $1.2 billion financing for Antofogasta to expand Minera Centinela.
Partner and Latin America practice head Jaime Ramírez is confident more water projects will come to market, given growing industrial demand and limited supply. But it’s not the only sector poised for a resurgence. He points out that renewable energy is likely to see ever more investments opportunities in the country. “Our activity levels should remain high, largely led by battery storage in coming months,” Ramírez says.
Meanwhile in Mexico, where the firm wins Law Firm of the Year, Milbank participated in the two of the most noteworthy deals of the past year. One of them was the acquisition of Iberdrola’s clean energy assets by an investment vehicle owned by the Mexican government, in a ground-breaking $6.2 billion transaction. The other was a $2.5 billion limited recourse financing of the Mayakan pipeline.
Mexico has not been an especially active market in recent years, but that could be about to change, Ramírez says. While the market took some time to breathe following June’s presidential elections, deals are in the pipeline, including renewable financing, acquisition financing and digital projects, too.
“We are doing some fiber transactions and data center deals,” Ramírez says.“Latin America usually follows the US on a delayed basis, and there has been an extraordinary amount of investment on digital there. We expect to see that moving to Latin America too.”