Morais Leitão, through its M&A team, advised the winning consortium, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP provided legal advice to the winning consortium in jurisdictions other than Portugal.
The José de Mello Group was assisted by Vieira de Almeida & Associados and Loyens & Loeff and Arcus by Campos Ferreira, Sá Carneiro.
Cliff ord Chance advised both Arcus and The José de Mello Group.
Interview with Maria Castelos at CS ASSOCIADOS
Please share your involvement in the deal.
CS Associados acted on the sell-side in the vendor’s legal due diligence and for Arcus in respect of all other transactional matters, together with Clifford Chance that acted for Arcus and José de Mello Group on English law. Having been personally involved ever since the acquisition of its first stake in Brisa, the subsequent takeover and delisting of Brisa until this sale that marks the final divestment of Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 1, it was particularly rewarding to team up once again with Arcus highly skilled and experienced team.
Why is your firm ideal for such deals?
CS Associados was from its inception tailored to assist large M&A deals. We have the capability of offering simultaneously several teams with the seniority, expertise and resources required of such deals, which have been in the core of our activity since our incorporation. That allowed us to be described since early days as a “lean, mean, transactional machine” and a “compact team of high-powered lawyers [that] excels in all transactional practice areas”.
What are your guiding principles which benefit your clients? Why are these principles important to you?
We focus on building strong long-term relations with our clients, based on true partnerships, aiming to be not only legal service providers but trusted advisers. As a lock-step firm, the best resources in the firm are available to our clients at all times. Our 1:3 maximum partner/lawyers ratio enables us to offer a client-focused approach with permanent partner access, ensuring a senior and higher quality service. Simultaneously, younger lawyers are exposed to partners and clients since the beginning of their traineeship, giving our future partners high-quality demanding training. These are the pillars of a true single law firm of highly motivated and skilled professionals.
How do you and your team strive to provide excellent service for all clients?
Legal knowledge, availability 24/7 and human and technological resources are guaranteed in any top tier firm like CS Associados. It is by stimulating the endless curiosity and critical thinking of our lawyers, by incentivising a culture of always challenging ourselves to do better, to go a step forward and never accept a limit on what we may achieve, by acting upon what we consider to be the best advice to our clients and by setting clear and good ethics boundaries that we strive to provide excellent service for all clients.
