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Mexico practicioners
1. GCR Analysis
Mexico
Wednesday, 28 November 2012 (7 months ago) • GCR 100 - 13th Edition
Last year, Mexico ushered in substantial reforms to its competition law, criminalising cartel behaviour and
increasing potential fines considerably. Mexico’s antitrust bar has been busy adapting to the changes, but
continues to carry out impressive work in the meantime.
Elite
The competition team at Barrera Siqueiros Torres y Landa SC stands out from
the crowd. Many of the firm’s litigators have antitrust skills and handle a good
deal of competition cases, with several competitors ranking the firm among
the best in the country. While administrative litigator Bernardo Ledesma is the
name that almost everyone knows at the firm, rivals say the firm’s other two
partners who handle competition law, Ricardo Pons and Omar Guerrero, are
the ones to watch. “[Guerrero] is handling a lot of competition matters,” one
rival lawyer says. In October 2010, Guerrero was appointed chairman of the
Mexican Bar Association’s competition committee.
Over the past year, the firm has been working for client Mexichem in a joint
venture with state-owned oil company Pemex. Also on the merger front, the
team advised Cuprum and Affinia, along with other companies involved in
deals. Cartel work continues apace for Barrera Siqueiros, as it has been
defending clients involved in the poultry, cathode ray tube, liquid crystal
display and travel services investigations, among others. The firm is also
defending clients involved in vertical restraints investigations.
The antitrust boutique at Castañeda y Asociados offers clients both lawyers
and economists specialised in Mexican and international antitrust law issues.
The three-lawyer practice is led by founding partner Gabriel Castañeda – one of the
stars of the Mexican antitrust bar and a nominee to The International Who’s Who of
Competition Lawyers and Economists. The team includes an in-house economist to help
guide clients through a regulatory system that increasingly focuses on
empirical reasoning and economic evidence. Its competitors say that
Castañeda y Asociados is counted among the best antitrust firms in the
country, particularly on behavioural cases.
The firm’s record quickly dispatches what little criticism the firm might receive
– particularly that, because of its small size and focus, it doesn’t act on many
merger deals that come before the commission. Last year, the firm acted on
several major deals, including advising United Technologies and Goodrich in
Page 1 of 6Mexico - Competition News, Features and Reviews - GCR - Global Competition Review
08/07/2013http://globalcompetitionreview.com/surveys/article/32668/mexico/
2. their transaction, as well as handling the Mexican review for Google of its
purchase of Motorola Mobility. The team also helped guide Temple Inland
through the CFC’s review of its deal with International Paper. On the
behavioural side, the firm has acted for TRW and Panasonic in CFC
investigations.
There appears to have been some significant changes with the antitrust team
at Larena Trevilla Fernández & de la Torre over the past year. Partner and
Who’s Who Legal nominee Martin Moguel Gloria left the firm last year to open his own
boutique, De la Torre Rodríguez Leroux & Moguel, with three other partners.
Two other partners practising competition law, including Who’s Who Legal
nominee Miguel Angel Fabregas Rodriguez, appear to remain at the firm, but
Fabregas did not respond to requests for information by the time this
publication went to press.
As with some other Mexican antitrust teams, the group at Valdés Abascal y
Brito Anderson SC – now Valdes Abascal Abogados – went through
considerable changes when long-time partner Rafael Brito Anderson
separated from co-partner Rafael Valdés Abascal last year. The firm still boasts two
ex-enforcers: Valdés-Abascal, former executive secretary of the commission,
and economics consultant Alvaro Sánchez González, who was the
commission’s director of merger control. The firm declined to specify the size
of its antitrust group.
The firm has acted for Telefónica Movistar and GTM in lawsuits filed against
Telmex and Telcel, challenging the companies’ alleged monopolistic
practices. Last year, the commission fined Telmex for refusing to provide
interconnection services to GTM and Telcel for squeezing margins of
competitors. These cases are now in amparo trials before the federal courts.
The firm continues to provide competition counsel to Henkel, PepsiCo,
Sempra Energy, 7-Eleven and Visa, among other clients.
Highly recommended
Amilcar Peredo Rivera leads a capable and improving competition practice at
Basham Ringe y Correa SC. While he is the only partner at the firm working
on competition matters full-time, his rivals say the Who’s Who Legal nominee is a
true rising star on the Mexican antitrust scene. Four associates assist Peredo,
splitting their time between litigation, merger control and other duties, while 30
-year Basham veteran Ignacio Orendain also handles litigation duties.
FIRM HEAD OF COMPETITION SIZE CLIENTS
Elite
Barrera
Siqueiros Torres
y Landa SC
Bernardo Ledesma, Omar
Guerrero, Ricardo Pons
3eq p,
3sa,
4a
Mexichem, KKR, Smith, Cadbury,
Bachoco, Union Nacional de
Avicultores, Cuprum
Page 2 of 6Mexico - Competition News, Features and Reviews - GCR - Global Competition Review
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3. Castañeda y
Asociados
Gabriel Castañeda 2p, 1a,
1e
Nycomed, Panasonic, United
Technologies, Goodrich, Google, TRW
Larena Trevilla
Fernández & de
la Torre
N/A N/A N/A
Valdés Abascal
Abogados
Rafael Valdés-Abascal N/A Telefónica Movistar, GTM, Henkel,
PepsiCo, Sempra Energy, Visa
Highly recommended
Basham Ringe y
Correa
Amilcar Peredo 1p, 4a Iochpe-Maxion, Minefinders Corp,
Getronics, BASF, Motorola Mobility,
Nalco, PKC Group Oyj, The Coca-Cola
Export Corporation
Creel García
Cuéllar Aiza y
Enríquez SC
Luis Gerardo García Santos Coy
and José Ruiz López
2p, 4a International Paper, Amcor, Outokumpu
Oyj, ThyssenKrupp
López Velarde
Heftye y Soria
Jorge Jiménez 3p,
2sa,
1oc
Mitsui, Oceanografia, Pinfra
Mijares Angoitia
Cortés y Fuentes
SC
Francisco Fuentes-Ostos N/A Grupo Televisa, Mitsubishi Corporation,
Banco Nacional de México, Grupo
Casa Saba, British Petroleum
SAI Law &
Economics
Jaime Serra, Lucia Ojeda
Cárdenas, Luis Alberto Aziz
Checa, Enrique Espinosa,
Gonzalo Robles Tapia
4p,
3sa
Nestlé, Axtel, Daimler Mexico, Walmart,
Cemex Mexico, Bimbo, Home Depot,
Aeromexico, Sony
Santos &
Partners
Luis Santos 1p, 2a Valeant Pharmaceuticals
White & Case Iker Arriola 1p, 5a Aeromexico, Comex, Kansas City
Southern, Mattel, Pfizer, Principal
Financial Group
Key: p = partner, eq p = equity partner, sa = senior associate, a = associate, e
= economist, oc = of counsel
The Basham Ringe team last year advised Motorola Mobility in its tie-up with
Google, and assisted Iochpe-Maxion in its purchase of Hayes Lemmerz
International. Elsewhere, the firm helped guide Minefinders Corp in its
acquisition by Pan American Silver. Other major matters include advising
BASF in a joint venture with Ineos Industries, and Nalco in a merger with
Ecolab. On the litigation front, the team advised The Coca-Cola Export
Corporation in an investigation by the commission, and a company embroiled
in the commission’s LCD cartel probe.
The competition team at Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez SC had an
impressive 2011 that has led to a similarly solid 2012. The team advised on
Page 3 of 6Mexico - Competition News, Features and Reviews - GCR - Global Competition Review
08/07/2013http://globalcompetitionreview.com/surveys/article/32668/mexico/
4. more than 16 per cent of all filed mergers in 2011 and a fair number over the
past year as well. In a country that prizes individuals above firms, Creel
partner and Who’s Who Legal nominee Luis Gerardo García Santos Coy
commands the respect of his peers – as does this two-partner, four-associate
practice. Monopolisation cases are also a consistent source of work.
The past year’s activity includes advising International Paper in its merger with
Temple-Inland, and Amcor in its purchase of Aluprint Tabaco from GPC
Holdings. Still pending merger reviews include advising Outokumpu Oyj and
ThyssenKrupp in a deal involving ThyssenKrupp’s stainless steel business,
along with Marubeni Corporation’s purchase of Gavilon Holdings from
investors. The team is also acting for companies involved in the cathode-ray
tube and LCD investigations.
Since its inception, López Velarde Heftye y Soria has been organised around
strong expertise in a group of highly specialised industries. This includes
Mexico’s energy sector – an industry that has been a cornerstone of the firm
since its beginnings – as well as impressive expertise in the
telecommunications, mining, ports and automotive industries. The group’s
industrial focuses have also shaped its competition and mergers practices,
which continues to serve clients active in these industries in need of antitrust
advice.
Recent work at López Velarde includes advising a ports consortium formed by
Oceanografia and Pinfra in a potential joint venture in Mazatlán, along with
other maritime projects. The team also continues to act for client Mitsui,
although it declined to identify which transaction it was involved in, citing
confidentiality issues.
Francisco Fuentes leads the competition team at Mijares Angoitia Cortés y
Fuentes SC. Fuentes handles most work before the commission, while a team
of litigators, including two partners, assists with antitrust cases and litigations.
Much of the firm’s work has been fuelled by Mexican television heavyweight
Grupo Televisa, which, along with telecoms company Telmex, is one of the
companies targeted most frequently by supporters of a more competitive
Mexican market – and is a major client for a competition team. Last year the
team helped negotiate remedies that allowed the company to buy a 50 per
cent stake in Grupo Iusacell, the third-largest mobile carrier in Mexico. Other
clients include Banco Nacional de México, Mitsubishi, pharmaceutical
distributor Grupo Casa Saba and British Petroleum.
Now more than 15 years old, SAI Law & Economics continues to offer clients
a one-stop shop for legal, economic and consulting services. Seven lawyers,
including Luis Alberto Aziz, Enrique Espinosa Velasco, Gonzalo Robles Tapia
and Lucia Ojeda Cárdenas, lead the antitrust team. Aziz is steeped in
Mexican antitrust law, both through his advisory work for clients in the soft
Page 4 of 6Mexico - Competition News, Features and Reviews - GCR - Global Competition Review
08/07/2013http://globalcompetitionreview.com/surveys/article/32668/mexico/
5. drink, beer, cement and hotel sectors, and his consultations for the
government. Meanwhile, Ojeda has acted for major international clients for
more than 10 years, and was a part of the senior antitrust lawyer group that
advised the commission on its initiative to update the country’s competition
law.
SAI has been advising Nestlé on the worldwide acquisition of Pfizer’s nutrition
business, and it is assisting Daimler Mexico with its competition compliance
programme. The team is assisting Axtel in relation to Telcel’s appeal of an
CFC fine for price squeezing. The SAI group is also busy advising Home
Depot and Aeromexico with CFC investigations.
Santos y Ríos is another Mexican practice that went through at least one
major change over the past year – officially changing its name to Santos &
Partners. The relatively small team at the firm, led by Who’s Who Legal nominee
and firm co-founder Luis Santos, punches above its weight, handling several
cases involving major Mexican and international clients larger teams would be
lucky to get.
The team’s major merger case last year involved advising Valeant
Pharmaceuticals in its purchase of Mexico’s Atlantis – a major deal that was
cleared without conditions. Previously, the team advised Ferrosur, the
Mexican rail company caught in a lengthy merger case involving two rivals, as
well as a related cartel case; and Southern Copper Corporation in a stock
offer for Frontera Copper.
Competition lawyers in Mexico say that international firm White & Case has
expanded its footprint in the market in recent years, and has become a major
player when companies look for competition counsel. The team’s partnership
shrunk noticeably last year from three partners to only one, Iker Arriola, while
five associates assist in antitrust matters.
Over the past year, the firm has been busy advising clients in several antitrust
investigations in various industries, including cases built around a leniency
application. The team acted as antitrust counsel to Pfizer in the sale of its
Capsugel division to private equity firm KKR, and is also global coordinating
counsel to Pfizer in the sale of its infant nutrition business to Nestlé. The team
is also leading DuPont through its purchase of Danisco, and it is working for
the Principal Financial Group in its takeover of a Mexican pension fund from
HSBC.
Other firms deserve consideration for inclusion in our Mexico listing. Mexican
firm Von Wobeser & Sierra has a considerable antitrust practice, as does
Galicia Abogados, led by noted practitioner Christian Lippert. Noriega y
Escobedo Abogados is also active in the antitrust bar.
Page 5 of 6Mexico - Competition News, Features and Reviews - GCR - Global Competition Review
08/07/2013http://globalcompetitionreview.com/surveys/article/32668/mexico/
![GCR Analysis
Mexico
Wednesday, 28 November 2012 (7 months ago) • GCR 100 - 13th Edition
Last year, Mexico ushered in substantial reforms to its competition law, criminalising cartel behaviour and
increasing potential fines considerably. Mexico’s antitrust bar has been busy adapting to the changes, but
continues to carry out impressive work in the meantime.
Elite
The competition team at Barrera Siqueiros Torres y Landa SC stands out from
the crowd. Many of the firm’s litigators have antitrust skills and handle a good
deal of competition cases, with several competitors ranking the firm among
the best in the country. While administrative litigator Bernardo Ledesma is the
name that almost everyone knows at the firm, rivals say the firm’s other two
partners who handle competition law, Ricardo Pons and Omar Guerrero, are
the ones to watch. “[Guerrero] is handling a lot of competition matters,” one
rival lawyer says. In October 2010, Guerrero was appointed chairman of the
Mexican Bar Association’s competition committee.
Over the past year, the firm has been working for client Mexichem in a joint
venture with state-owned oil company Pemex. Also on the merger front, the
team advised Cuprum and Affinia, along with other companies involved in
deals. Cartel work continues apace for Barrera Siqueiros, as it has been
defending clients involved in the poultry, cathode ray tube, liquid crystal
display and travel services investigations, among others. The firm is also
defending clients involved in vertical restraints investigations.
The antitrust boutique at Castañeda y Asociados offers clients both lawyers
and economists specialised in Mexican and international antitrust law issues.
The three-lawyer practice is led by founding partner Gabriel Castañeda – one of the
stars of the Mexican antitrust bar and a nominee to The International Who’s Who of
Competition Lawyers and Economists. The team includes an in-house economist to help
guide clients through a regulatory system that increasingly focuses on
empirical reasoning and economic evidence. Its competitors say that
Castañeda y Asociados is counted among the best antitrust firms in the
country, particularly on behavioural cases.
The firm’s record quickly dispatches what little criticism the firm might receive
– particularly that, because of its small size and focus, it doesn’t act on many
merger deals that come before the commission. Last year, the firm acted on
several major deals, including advising United Technologies and Goodrich in
Page 1 of 6Mexico - Competition News, Features and Reviews - GCR - Global Competition Review
08/07/2013http://globalcompetitionreview.com/surveys/article/32668/mexico/](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mexicopracticioners-130802110208-phpapp02/85/mexico-practicioners-1-320.jpg)
