Leading Commercial Firms: Oporto
2008
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados scored a coup in 2006, when it merged with Oporto corporate leader Osório de Castro, Verde Pinho, Vieira Peres, Lobo Xavier e Associados. The firm fields numerous outstanding experts in its Oporto office and is virtually unrivalled in the north of Portugal. In 2007, the firm continued to advise Sonaecom in its groundbreaking €12bn takeover bid for leading national telecoms provider PT. Local partner Carlos Osório de Castro, one of the firm’s best-known corporate heavyweights led this matter and is lauded as ‘ the finest capital markets expert you can find in Portugal’. Joaquim Vieira Peres, also based in Oporto, is considered an ‘ exceptional’ competition expert. Private client is another major strength, with local clients including some of Portugal’s best-known international football stars.
‘If you’re looking for London standards, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is what you want.’ The firm’s outstanding reputation owes much to the ‘simply unchallenged’ Luís Branco and his team. The firm advised an international syndicate of banks in connection with security for the €520m acquisition of Amorim Imobiliária, by Spanish real estate company Inmobiliaria Chamartín. Recently promoted to partnership, Filipe Lowndes Marques has established a reputation as one of the market’s best-respected experts. Millenium BCP also instructed the firm regarding the negotiation and launch of $1.5bn extendible floating rate notes, issued by BCP Finance Bank. Up-and-coming Luísa Soares da Silva and Pedro Gorjão Henriques are also recommended.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ expertise in equity capital markets is simply outstanding. Fielding two of the finest capital markets partners in Portugal, João Soares da Silva and Carlos Osório de Castro, its track record is unmatched. The firm was involved in several of Portugal’s highest-profile transactions last year, including Sonaecom’s failed attempt to take over PT. Millenium BCP also instructed the firm on its unsuccessful €4.3bn bid for Banco BPI, and on its negotiation and launch of a $1.5bn extendible floating rate notes issued by BCP Finance Bank.
Lauded as ‘the best Portuguese firm’, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ towering reputation as Portugal’s corporate and M&A champion owes much to the fact that the firm was called up to advise the bidders in the country’s two largest-ever takeover bids: Sonaecom’s failed bid for PT, and Millenium BCP’s failed attempt to takeover Banco BPI. Fielding some of the market’s most coveted M&A heavyweights, João Soares da Silva, Carlos Osório de Castro and Nuno Galvão Teles receive the most praise. Also involved in Portugal’s largest outbound corporate investments, the firm notably advised EDP in the €2.15bn acquisition of Horizon Wind Energy of the US. Traditional corporate clients include Inapa, Martifer and Mota-Engil.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados boasts a longstanding tradition in dispute resolution. Arguably the country’s most-acclaimed dispute resolution experts, senior partners José Manuel Galvão Teles and Miguel Galvão Teles boast an unparalleled track record in this sector. The dispute resolution team fields 22 fee-earners, including nine partners, and is one of the firm’s largest departments. The firm is strong across the board, from commercial litigation, to domestic and international arbitration, fraud and white-collar crime. Co-managing partner António Pinto Leite is ‘a very good litigator’. Rising stars Rui Patrício and Francisco Cortez are two to watch.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is widely reputed for fielding two of the market’s outstanding experts in EU and competition. Head of department Carlos Botelho Moniz is ‘clearly one of the best in Portugal’, strongly supported by the ‘exceptional’ Oporto-based partner Joaquim Vieira Peres. With a team of 11 fee-earners, the firm recently acted for Sonaecom in the filing before the Portuguese Competition Authority of its planned €12bn acquisition of PT. In the banking sector, the firm was also involved in one of the market’s major issues, advising BCP in the filing before the Portuguese Competition Authority of its planned acquisition of BPI. Other major issues involved clients such as TAP Portugal, REN – Rede Electrica Nacional and Sonae Distribuição.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ pre-eminent employment team benefits from the firm’s outstanding corporate department, having advised some of the country’s largest companies on a wide range of employment-related issues. NAER recently instructed the firm regarding employment due diligence on ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal in view of the company’s privatisation and the construction of the new Lisbon airport. The firm also acted for Marcelle Bouhon on the termination of a distribution agreement of Parfums Christian Dior and subsequent collective dismissal. Senior associate Luís Miguel Monteiro heads the firm’s highly regarded four-fee-earners team.
Intellectual Property
2008
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados has been advising Pfizer on advertising law, as well as on a number of patent-related issues, particularly patent litigation. Pernod Ricard and Heinz have also sought the firm’s expert advice on trade mark issues, namely management and litigation. While senior associate Tomás Vaz Pinto heads up the firm’s experienced team, partners António Pinto Leite, Carlos Osório de Castro and José Botelho Moniz also offer IP expertise.
Also a major force in project finance, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados has recently advised an international syndicate of banks on a €175.2m project financing connected with the Grande Lisboa motorway concession. The firm also acted for a Portuguese syndicate of banks regarding a complex €50m project finance structure involving a holding company in Malta in the wind farms sector. The department is led by highly regarded finance partner Luís Branco.
Public procurement highlights at Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados include representing EDP on the public tenders for the award of the grid connection for setting up wind farms. Head of department, Fernanda Matoso, is praised. The firm boasts expertise in expropriations, having recently acted for Lusoponte in connection with a new bridge over the river Tagus in Lisbon. On the contentious side, regulatory expert Margarida Olazabal Cabral led the advice to the Portuguese Ministry of Economy in a €500m claim regarding the licensing of a tourism real estate venture in Alentejo.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ first-class real estate team advised Abertis Logistica on the €400m structure, acquisition and development of a logistics park in Portugal. Filipa Arantes Pedroso spearheads the six-fee-earner team. Eurohypo Aktiengesellschaft instructed the firm last year regarding a €500m mortgage credit for real estate developments. ‘They are very strong in getting the deal through,’ one client said.
Shipping and Transport
2008
At Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados , Filipa Arantes Pedroso heads a solid team of four lawyers, which regularly acts for a number of leading players in the sector. Sonaecom and EDP are two key clients.
Widely acknowledged as one of the most prominent tax teams in the market, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados boasts Lisbon-based Francisco DE Sousa da Câmara and Oporto-based António Lobo Xavier, both visible on several high-profile tax structures for major corporates and entities. One client commented: ‘Sousa da Camara stands out for his striking technical abilities, he is a real gentleman in the way he manages his team, an excellent professional’. The firm was recently advising the Portuguese Central Bank, Banco de Portugal, in connection with the dissolution and liquidation of a financial institution that entered bankruptcy. Other major clients include Chevron Texaco, Deutsche Bank (UK) and the Sonae.com group.