Latin Lawyer
28/9/2022
Brazilian Highly Recommended firm L O Baptista Advogados has celebrated its 50th anniversary by incorporating local boutique Reis Gomes Advogados, strengthening its energy practice.
The firm announced the combination on 20 September. Reis Gomes’ founding partners Henrique Reis and Victor Gomes, join L O Baptista’s most senior rank, which currently counts a total of 22 lawyers.
Reis brings 12 years of experience working in the regulation of the electricity sector, providing consulting and representation services in administrative proceedings on behalf of companies, economic groups, investors, and associations within the electricity sector. Before that, he ran his own firm Henrique Reis Advocacia e Consultoria for over a year.
Gomes has advised clients on regulatory and commercial matters relating to the electric power and natural gas sector for more than 15 years. Prior to founding Reis Gomes, he worked in-house for several natural gas and electric power generation companies, including Eneva and Cia Positiva. He has experience advising national and international clients on regulatory and contractual matters, including energy auctions and M&As. Before that, he worked at Highly Recommended firm Souto Correa Advogados for a year.
Maria Beatriz Grella Vieira, an M&A and corporate partner at L O Baptista who intermediated the merger with Reis Gomes Advogados, says Gomes and Reis are both well-recognised lawyers in the energy sector. “They both bring a great portfolio of clients composed of large companies and they will help us explore more of the energy field with our clients,” she adds.
L O Baptista is revered as a litigation and arbitration powerhouse in Brazil, while also boasting busy corporate, trade and labour practices. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been another point of interest for L O Baptista in recent times, and the firm has also focused on growing its ESG capabilities, in line with the regional spike in green financings. In October, the firm helped Portuguese EDP Energias sell three Brazilian power transmission lines to UK private equity group Actis for 1.3 billion reais (US$237 million).
Disponível em: https://latinlawyer.com/article/brazils-l-o-baptista-incorporates-energy-boutique
