Mr. Cervantes is a member of Gonzalez Calvillo, S.C. His principal areas of practice are mergers and acquisitions, project finance, corporate finance, private equity/venture capital transactions, joint ventures, negotiated acquisitions, financings, restructurings and investments, real estate, telecommunications, energy, antitrust, infrastructure, public bids and regulatory issues in general. With over twenty five years of experience, he has been consistently ranked as a leading practitioner and go-to lawyer in his fields of expertise by Chambers Global, Euromoney Expert Guides International, Who’s Who, Global Law Experts, Latin Lawyer, etc..
Practice Focus
Mr. Cervantes’ work has included active representation of diverse clients involved in all kinds of corporate and commercial projects and multi-billion dollar transactions in a variety of industries, including real estate, financial services, telecommunications, oil, petrochemicals, natural gas, steel, power generation and water projects..
Representative Legal Matters
• ING, Mizuho, CitiBank, Crédit Agricole, La CaixaBank, Sabadell, Banamex and BBVA, in their US$300 million acquisition financing to Vopak and EneGas to purchase the Altamira II LNG facility.
• KST Electric Power Company, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Samsung C&T Corporation and Techint in the US$450 million financings by The Export-Import Bank of Korea, Crédit Agricole, Sumitomo-Mitsui, Scotiabank and West LB, for the construction of the Norte II 433 MW CCGT power plant.
• Represented Banorte in the MXP$890 million senior financing facility granted to Gestión Integral de Hospitales Zumpango, for the PPP-construction, operation and management of the Zumpango Hospital, in the State of Mexico.
• Representation of ICICI Bank Ltd. and a syndicate of European and Asian banks in the EUR€370 million financing facilities granted to Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd. to help fund its acquisition of a majority stake in Germany’s Peguform Group.
• LaSalle Investment Management in more than US$500 million in real estate acquisitions and development transactions throughout Mexico, for a variety of residential, hotel, retail, commercial, industrial and mixed-use projects.
• Commerzbank and a syndicate of European, US and Asian banks in the US$350 and €75 million financing facilities to the AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group.
• Bangkok Bank in a US$350 million financing to Indorama, for the acquisition of a polymers and resin business.
• Pacific Rubiales as bidder with Pemex Exploración y Producción for “Incentive Contracts” for the exploration and production of the Carrizo, Magallanes and Santuario oil fields;
• Represented the shareholders of Ecuador Bottling Company Corp. in the US$320 million acquisition by Embotelladoras Arca.
• GTCR in its acquisition of Johnson & Johnson’s breast care division.
• Avista Capital Partners in the US$780 million global acquisition of The Clorox Company’s auto care business (including the Armor All® product line).
• KEPCO, Samsung and Techint in an international public bid and the execution of a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement with the Federal Electricity Commission for the construction and operation of the Norte II 433 MW CCGT power plant.
• Thoma Bravo in its acquisition of LANDesk Software from Emerson Electric Co.
• Navistar Financial in a US$300 million issuance of commercial paper.
• Banorte and a syndicate of banks in the MXP$850 million senior financing facility to Renova Atlatec for the construction of the Agua Prieta PPP Water Treatment Plant Project.
• Concecutex in the MXP$750,000,000 financing with Santander and Banorte for the construction of a PPP Cultural Center in the State of Mexico.
• Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Caylon and Citigroup in a US$1 billion facility for an international consortium bid to purchase power plants and assets of Electricité de France in Mexico.
• Japan Bank for International Cooperation in a US$600 million financing to Mitsubishi Corporation for the construction of a 648 MW Coal-Fired Power Generation Plant tendered by the Federal Electricity Commission.
• News Corporation and The DIRECTV Group in the US$580 million reorganization of the DTH satellite TV platform in Mexico, Brazil and Latin America.
• Sentinel Capital Partners in its US$200 million merger buyout of Engineered Controls International;
• Maxcom Telecomunicaciones and Bank of America in the US$310 million SEC registered IPO.
• Banorte in the US$52 million financing to Grupo Marhnos for the construction of the Anzalduas Reynosa-McAllen, Texas International Toll Bridge.
• Grupo LAR in the acquisition of 340 tracts of land in the Bosque Real private golf and residential complex.
• Controladora Riviera Maya in its acquisition of the Pok-Ta-Pok golf course in Cancun.
• Reichmann International in the development and construction of Torre Mayor, the tallest building in Mexico City and Latin America.
Admission
Mexico (1987).
Education and Professional Experience
• Georgetown University, LLM, 1988
• Georgetown University, Introduction into the U.S. Legal System, 1987
• Escuela Libre de Derecho, Attorney at Law, 1982-1987
• Foreign Associate in Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, LLP, a New York City-based international law firm.
Recognitions
• Listed in Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers in the areas of project finance, real estate and telecommunications.
• Recognized in Who’s Who Legal Mexico 2012 in the fields of project finance, communications, Internet and e-commerce, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and construction.
• Recommended by Global Law Experts 2012 in regulatory communications and real estate.
• Recognized in Chambers Global (2010, 2011, 2012) as “Leaders in their Field” in the areas of corporate and M&A work.
• Recommended in Chambers Global List of The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business.
• Recommended in Chambers Latin America (2010, 2011, 2012) in the areas of corporate / M&A, energy & natural resources and real estate.
• Named in the 20th edition of the IFLR 1000 (International Financial Law Review 2009) as one of the world’s leading lawyers.
• Included in the inaugural edition in the publication of Best Lawyers in Mexico in the areas of practice of corporate and mergers & acquisitions;
• Named one of Mexico’s leading business lawyers in Mexico’s Top 40 Lawyers under the age of 40, published by Latin Lawyer.
• Listed in The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers since 2001, in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, telecommunications and real estate.
• Repeatedly selected for inclusion in the International Who’s Who of Regulatory Communication Lawyers since 2001.
• Listed in the Guide to the World’s Leading Technology, Media and Telecommunications Lawyers published by Euromoney Legal Media Group.
Professional Associations and Memberships
• Secretary of the Mexican Association of Real Estate and Infrastructure Private Equity Funds
• Chairman – Alumni Admission Program (México), Georgetown University
• Former President and current member of the Board of Trustees of the John Langdon Down Foundation, A.C.
• Member of the Executive Committee of Mackrell International, an International Network of Law Firms
• Secretary of the Board of Directors of Innova Holdings, S. de R.L. de C.V., Innova, S. de R.L. de C.V. (and subsidiaries), the operator of SKY satellite TV in Mexico
• Secretary of the Board of Directors of Comsat México, S.A. de C.V.
• Secretary of the Board of Directors of Corporación Industrial Alimenticia, S.A. de C.V.
• Secretary of the Board of Directors of Grupo Galaxy Mexicana, S. de R.L. de C.V.
• Secretary of the Board of Directors of Navistar Financial, S.A. de C.V., Sofom ENR.