Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados handles shipping and aviation; Segismundo Pinto Basto is recommended for the latter. ‘Highly competent, client-oriented and available’ managing associate Cátia Fernandes advised ESL Shipping Oy and Mediterranean Shipping on vessel and ship registrations.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados offers ‘extremely high-quality service’. In 2017, it represented EDP Renováveis in litigation concerning the payment of €30m in tax for capital gains derived from the sale of shares, which allegedly violated EU law. The team is headed jointly by the Oporto-based António Pedro Braga and António Lobo Xavier, who have ‘strong technical knowledge and understand business realities’, and Lisbon-based ‘tax expert’ Francisco de Sousa da Câmara.
With ‘a high level of service’ and ‘short response times’, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is best known for its technology expertise and covers niche areas such as gaming. Nuno Peres Alves assisted DSTelecom with negotiating a contract with Meo and PT for the provision of access to dark fibre and bitstream services. Managing associate Gonçalo Machado Borges is ‘an excellent choice for international work’ and coordinates the telecoms and media department, while ‘excellent negotiator’ João Alfredo Afonso and Helena Tapp Barroso focus on data protection.
Real Estate and Construction
2018
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is ‘efficient, committed and professional’ in dealing with commercial, industrial and shopping centre acquisitions. On the seller side, it advised EDP Imobiliária on its disposal of an asset portfolio, and assisted Colony NorthStar with its sale of a retail park. Rita Ferreira Vicente and practice head Filipa Arantes Pedroso act in close co-operation with the planning and environment teams.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados regularly advises on public procurement at national and municipal level. In the energy sector, it advised EDP Gás Distribuição on a public tender for works contracts. Pharmaceutical sector work included representing clients such as AbbVie, CSL Behring and Varian Medical Systems in litigation concerning public tenders for the supply of medicines and medical devices to the National Health Service (SNS). João Tiago Silveira, Fernanda Matoso, Margarida Olazabal Cabral and Miguel Nogueira de Brito are recommended.
Projects and Project Finance
2018
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ projects team has ‘deep technical knowledge’ and provides ‘swift’ replies. Led by Filipe Lowndes Marques, the group largely advises lenders on energy, construction and road projects. Luís Branco, Ana Monjardino and managing associate Filipa Morais Alçada are also stand-out practitioners.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados combines public law and environmental expertise with planning law. The team recently advised Living Amoras on attaining licenses for a student housing project with over 200 apartments, and assisted Sonae Sierra with land use planning matters. João Pereira Reis and managing associate Rui Ribeiro Lima are the names to note.
Oporto: Leading Commercial Firms
2018
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ Oporto office, which is managed by Bernardo Lobo Xavier, fields a team that has ‘excellent business acumen’ and ‘a clear vision of the needs of the client’. He led advice to Sonae Retail Properties on the sale and leaseback of several food retail assets in Northern Portugal. Carlos Osório de Castro, Eduardo Verde Pinho and Luís Gagliardini Graça are recommended for corporate and commercial work. The ‘competent’ António Lobo Xavier leads the tax practice, which is another pillar of strength; competition and public law are other areas of focus.
Intellectual Property
2018
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ advice is ‘always timely and complete’. The group is highly recommended for patent disputes in the pharmaceutical sector, and recently represented a fashion retailer in unfair competition and design infringement disputes. Senior associate Vasco Stilwell d’Andrade is a trade mark expert who ‘works seamlessly’ with the client and provides ‘well-reasoned strategy’. Managing associate Ricardo do Nascimento Ferreira is another name to note.
Insolvency and Restructuring
2018
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados advises banks such as Barclays and Bankinter on credit recovery from insolvent lenders. Other work includes assisting five Grupo Tractores de Portugal companies with their insolvencies. Filipe Lowndes Marques is the key name.
Fraud and White-Collar Crime
2018
With premium expertise in high-level criminal cases, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados often acts at international level. In one example, Tiago Félix da Costa, who is ‘outstanding in court, providing genuine added value in criminal and judicial proceedings’, led the team representing several individuals in litigation brought by the Public Prosecution Service concerning the alleged payment of undue benefits to public officials of the Republic of Congo in exchange for the award of public tenders. Rui Patrício and Filipa Marques Júnior represented Águas de Santo André in a case concerning pollution. Senior associate Tiago Geraldo is another name to note.
Energy and Natural Resources
2018
Drawing on its longstanding expertise in the energy sector, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados handles transactions, regulatory work and litigation. It advised EDP on the public tender offer for shares of EDP Renovaveis, and assisted Haitong Capital with construction of the solar plant in Ferreira do Alentejo. With Catarina Brito Ferreira’s promotion to partner in June 2017, the group now has four partners including Tomás Vaz Pinto, Ricardo Andrade Amaro and managing partner Nuno Galvão Teles.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ team of ‘skilled professionals’ cover all areas of labour and employment work. Helena Tapp Barroso led advice to Impresa on labour and social security matters as well as handling employment litigation; Luís Miguel Monteiro represented Pfizer in employment litigation. Pedro Pardal Goulão has ‘an excellent control of all situations’.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados provides ‘an outstanding level of service’. In one highlight, Carlos Botelho Moniz led advice to EDP on a state aid investigation launched by the European Commission (EC) concerning a €759m payment for the extension of the energy company’s right to use public water resources for electricity generation. The 11-strong group, which is headed by Joaquim Vieira Peres, includes managing associates Inês Gouveia and the ‘business-oriented’ Pedro de Gouveia e Melo. Luís do Nascimento Ferreira was promoted to partner in May 2017.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados offers ‘timely input’ and is increasingly active in international arbitration. In litigation, the team acted for Transportes Sul do Tejo in a case filed against the Portuguese state concerning financial compensations paid to the transportation companies of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area for public transportation service rendered. António Pinto Leite leads the team, which includes Francisco Cortez, Miguel de Almada and Filipe Vaz Pinto. Magda Fernandes is ‘a superb lawyer with an excellent sense of commercial matters’. Catarina Monteiro Pires made partner in 2017.
Commercial, Corporate and M&A
2018
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados provides ‘an excellent service’ on all commercial matters, including venture capital work. Practice head João Soares da Silva and Eduardo Paulino advised Montepio Geral on the acquisition of a 49% stake in the share capital of Residências Montepio, a residential centres business for senior citizens. Carlos Osório de Castro, Nuno Galvão Teles and Segismundo Pinto Basto are also recommended.
Portuguese powerhouse Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados advised Millennium BCP on a €175m investment by Fosun in a qualified shareholding in the bank’s share capital. Other highlights include assisting Energias de Portugal (EDP) with the public tender offer for shares of EDP Renováveis. Practice head João Soares da Silva, Carlos Osório de Castro and Eduardo Paulino are recommended. Luísa Soares da Silva left to become a member of Novo Banco’s board of directors.
The ‘always available’ team at Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados provides ‘swift, professional responses’. It is renowned for its project finance work and recently handled numerous refinancings. Its impressive client roster includes Portuguese banks such as Banco Comercial Português and Novo Banco, as well as international financial institutions. Filipe Lowndes Marques and managing associate Filipa Morais Alçada acted for Caixa Económica Montepio Geral on its €75m real estate finance loan to TAP. Luís Branco and Pedro Gorjão Henriques are also recommended.