In a year when infrastructure once again dominated Brazil’s capital markets, at least one legal advisor was central to the action: São Paulo-based Machado Meyer. With more than five decades’ experience and one of the country’s deepest benches of infrastructure lawyers, the firm guided many of the transactions that defined the market in 2024–2025, securing its recognition as the country’s Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year.
The firm’s hand was evident in some of the largest and most complex financings of the period. It advised on the R$9.4 billion issuance of incentivized debentures for the Via Dutra highway, the biggest of its kind in Brazil; the R$700 million financing of the Barro Alto solar complex in Goiás, a project that will increase the state’s solar capacity by 22% and help decarbonize Brazil’s heavy industry; and the R$4.5 billion financing for the Portocem LNG-to-power plant, one of the country’s most sophisticated power sector deals. These transactions showcased the firm’s ability to blend regulatory insight, structuring expertise, and market innovation to deliver transformative projects.
Machado Meyer also brought its signature sophistication to a wide array of financings that pushed Brazil’s infrastructure forward. A R$1.5 billion securitization of reserve energy receivables for Âmbar Energia marked the first of its kind, setting a template for similar transactions. CLI Sul’s R$300 million debenture issuance financed modernization of the Port of Santos, Latin America’s largest port. In sanitation, a R$250 million debenture for Ourinhos Saneamento illustrated how capital markets can be mobilized to expand essential services under Brazil’s new regulatory framework. Together, these deals demonstrate the firm’s ability to mobilize private and public capital for highways, energy, ports, sanitation, and social infrastructure.
“The truth is that Machado Meyer has not lacked work in the infrastructure sector, both in terms of advising the structuring of project finance and helping to sort out M&A deals,” says partner José Virgílio Lopes Enei. He points to the emphasis that consecutive governments have placed on infrastructure as a growth engine, encouraging new players and diversifying financing sources.
Regulatory improvements have also been key. The simplification of debenture issuance, a more market-friendly approach at development bank BNDES, and initiatives to attract foreign investors have fueled new activity. “Those are sectors that are not progressing at the pace that we would like to see, but we are working with them nonetheless,” Enei says, noting rising opportunities in offshore wind, biofuels, and green hydrogen, alongside strong interest in data centers and battery storage.
The breadth of the practice reflects decades of investment. Machado Meyer was one of the first full-service law firms in Brazil to establish a dedicated infrastructure practice in the 1990s. Today, it counts more than two dozen partners and over 100 lawyers working on infrastructure. The team has guided clients through multiple economic cycles and continues to position itself at the forefront of new sectors. “It is true that if Brazil had lower rates and higher economic growth, in the long run, the tendency would be for the sector to be in an even better condition,” Enei says. “Areas like batteries and offshore wind have not started to develop more quickly because the moment is not too propitious right now.”
Even so, in consolidated sectors such as toll roads, ports, and power, demand remains strong and relatively insulated from political cycles. The firm’s work on the $2.4 billion long-term financing of the RioSP toll road concession and the $750 million incentivized debentures for Portocem underscore this reality. Clients value not only Machado Meyer’s technical skill but also its ability to anticipate regulatory shifts, negotiate complex contracts, and manage relationships with government stakeholders.
That combination has earned the trust of multilateral banks, international investors, and Brazil’s largest sponsors. “We are talking of a long-term market with a resilient image,” says CEO Tito Andrade. “Demand is very strong in some sectors and sometimes specific situations make investments attractive too.”