Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados' Francisco Sousa da Câmara is regularly singled out as an outstanding tax expert. Widely acclaimed partner António Lobo Xavier joins him in the leadership of the firm's tax department. Boasting a team of 19 lawyers, spanning Lisbon, Oporto and Madeira, the firm's highlights included advising EDP Group on the privatisation of 5% of the share capital of EDP and advising Deutsche Bank in a securities-lending agreement, concerning shares in Portuguese listed companies.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados' telecoms team is led by Filipa Arantes Pedroso and has picked up some of the most important instructions in this field last year. The firm advises a wide range of clients, including Sonae.com Group, Lebara Limited, EDP and Mediacapital Telecomunicações.
Real Estate and construction
2007
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados' highly commended real estate practice is spearheaded by Filipa Arantes Pedroso, and boasts a team of six fee-earners. The firm was most notably involved in advising Abertis on a €400m acquisition and development of a logistics park in Portugal. João Pereira Reis and Filipa Arantes Pedroso were the key partners involved. Other highlights included acting for Eurohypo AG on a €342m mortgage credit to real estate developments. Finance expert Luís Branco was the partner leading this matter.
At Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados, Fernanda Matoso leads a team of six lawyers, which includes three partners. The firm's expertise spans planning and zoning, advice to local municipalities, public procurement, PPP, licensing, regulatory and administrative litigation. Highlights include advising Agusta Westland Group in the sale of helicopters to Portuguese public entities, particularly in public tendering procedures for the supply of spare parts and services.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados' top-drawer project finance team includes star partners Luís Branco and Filipa Arantes Pedroso. The firm acted for a syndicate of Portuguese banks in a complex €347.3m financing of a rebalancing agreement between the concessionaire for the Norte Motorway and the grantor. It also advised RBS, Caja Madrid, Caixa Geral de Depósitos and BES in the €646m refinancing and further financing of the Pego coal-fired power plant.
Intellectual Property
2007
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados' leading IP practice is led by has in partner Tomás Vaz Pinto. The firm has advised on trade mark management, licensing, trade mark disputes and copyright infringement. Clients include Pernod Ricard, Diageo, Turner and Sojornal.
While Luís Miguel Monteiro leads Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados' employment department, the firm also boasts in António Pinto Leite, José Carlos Botelho Moniz and António Emílio de Vasconcelos three further experienced practitioners. Monteiro led the firm's advice to Pernod Ricard in an employment dispute arising in the context of its worldwide acquisition of Allied Domecq. Other clients include Heinz, BP, Allianz AG and Auchan Group.
Carlos Botelho Moniz, head of EU and competition at Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados is regularly mentioned as one of the country's leading experts. Together with acclaimed practitioner Joaquim Vieira Peres, the firm boasts one of the strongest specialised teams in the market. Highlights include acting for EDP - Electricidade de Portugal SA in four merger control filings before the Portuguese Competition Authority and one before the European Commission and a subsequent appeal to the Court of First Instance.
Boasting a superlative team of highly experienced litigators, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados' practice is led by expert partner António Pinto Leite. With a team of 28 lawyers, including eight partners involved in dispute resolution, the firm fields one of the largest litigation practices in the country. José Manuel Galvão Teles, Miguel Galvão Teles, António Sampaio Caramelo, José Botelho Moniz, Rui Patrício and Luís Miguel Monteiro are a few of the firm's best-known individuals. The practice spans arbitration, corporate and commercial litigation, employment disputes and insolvency and bankrupcy.
It is not an overstatement to qualify 2006 as the year of Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados. Following its merger with an Oporto-based corporate boutique at the beginning of 2006, two of the firm's key clients launched the largest takeover bids ever in Portugal, both of them hostile: Sonaecom announced a €11.9bn bid for the Portuguese telecoms giant Portugal Telecom and Banco Comercial Português launched a €4.33bn bid for Banco BPI. Capital markets expert Carlos Osório de Castro and highly acclaimed corporate partner João Soares da Silva took the lead roles.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados' stellar banking and finance practice owes much to expert partner Luís Branco, one of the most admired practitioners in this field. The firm's finance practice spans banking, project finance and securitisation. On the banking side, the up-and-coming Filipe Lowndes Marques led the firm's advice to Calyon, BNP Paribas, SocGen and Deutsche Bank in the €2.9bn acquisition of Europcar Group. Luís Branco led the firm's advice to Banco Espírito Santo in a complex €42m financing of a shopping centre in the north of Portugal. Filipa Arantes Pedroso and senior associate Pedro Gorjão Henriques are also highly regarded as leading experts in this field.
Leading Commercial Firms: Oporto
2007