Aguilar Castillo Love

Corporate M&A is our core practice and from where most of the other practices derive and relate. Our firm assists companies from all sectors with mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, splits, spin-offs or any kind of business combination, arrangement or restructuring. Our comprehensive experience covers the entire spectrum of a deal: from the very early stages and working with Legal Departments, with other law firms, both local and international, with management and/or with investment bankers on the strategy for identifying targets and formulating and implementing non-binding and binding documents, to assisting with the definition of the deal structure, the preparation of the agreements and related transaction documents, the closing, and the handling of all required post-closing items.

From a one-country transactions, to cross-border deals, we serve our clients directly in those countries in which we operate and through leading law firms in other Latin American countries, as well as top US, UK and mainland European law firms, in global transactions.

Our lawyers regularly assist clients with corporate governance matters. Our team also has extensive experience in assisting with start-ups, foreign investment and greenfield projects, as well as general business law support when it comes to commercial contracts, including for example, agency, distribution, franchising, outsourcing, supply and sponsorship.

Competition: our team assists clients in evaluating antitrust issues. This includes acting as legal advisors in proceedings related to anticompetitive practices. Given our corporate focus, we have a premier team that regularly works on merger control matters, doing so in one single country or regionally in Central America when merger review and/or clearance is required in several jurisdictions.

Dispute Resolution: our firm has strong experience in civil and criminal litigation as well as arbitration. With respect to investor-state disputes, our firm has more experience supporting ICSID cases than any other law firm in the Central America. Our criminal law litigation offering is also connected to our leading Compliance and Corporate Investigations practice; our lawyers are seasoned conducting internal assessments, providing training and supporting the local implementation of compliance, integrity and anti-corruption programs.

Our Employment practice is centred on employer representation and concentrates on preventive and pro-active measures. The scope of work goes from compensation and benefits, to maintenance and day-to-day support for our corporate and institutional clients, ranging from small operations, to some of the largest private employers in the Central American region.

Finance: our lawyers well versed in banking, capital markets, derivatives, structured products, insurance and project finance. ACL acts for global and local banks, as well as for leading financial, insurance and reinsurance institutions, including multilaterals, advising on complex and innovative products and services, as well as financing for important regional and local projects.

Linked to our Public Law practice, our Infrastructure, Energy and Natural Resources practice is directed at servicing the legal needs of our clients in regulated sectors and industries. Our team has significant experience in transport related projects, in hydroelectric power, electricity, and renewable energies projects, as well as in mining.

Our firm has vast experience in International Trade, including the negotiation and application of WTO Agreements, Free Trade Agreements, Bilateral Investment Treaties, special customs regimes and other similar international trade instruments. Our knowledge on customs’ regimes and free trade zones provide profound counsel to investors that seek to take advantage of special regimes allowed by the WTO to invest in foreign countries in order to enhance their international trade capabilities.

Our firm handles major Real Estate transactions, derived from M&A and major greenfield projects. Our firm conducts standard and complex due diligences for the acquisition of commercial or manufacturing facilities, as well as helping structure multimillion-dollar real estate swap agreements.

Our Regulatory practice is aimed at helping our clients achieve compliance, as well as to assist them in understanding and addressing the specific rules that apply to their industries and activities. Our work includes privacy and data protection, consumer rights and protection, import-export, permits, licenses, public procurement, product registration and distribution, representation and mandates, notarial practice and Apostille requirements, financial and banking products and services, health and sanitary rules, energy and telecommunications.

Our Tax practice focuses on general corporate tax law, and in helping clients identify, understand and address the key aspects of their projects and transactions. Part of our Tax practice also involves international trade and the fiscal aspects of import and export activities. We also focus our Tax practice on incentive systems, including duty-free areas and free trade zones, supporting our clients to understand the opportunities, and assisting them through the entire application process, as needed.