Souza, Cescon Avedissian, Barrieu e Flesch Advogados advised Italian power grid operator Terna, as it agreed to sell a 66 percent stake in its Brazilian unit to regional power firm Cemig.
The US$1.06 billion deal was announced on 24 April, with Cemig taking legal advice from Pinheiro Guimarães Advogados and Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados jointly.
Souza, Cescon partner Maurício Santos says that cultural differences between the two companies, as well as their “significantly different views” of the transaction put pressure on the legal teams. “We had material deal issues being resolved until the very last minute of the transaction,” he says.
René Mostardeiro Brunet of Pinheiro Guimarães - Advogados says time was an extra pressure: “Negotiations were intense and had to be completed in a short period of time in order to meet the schedule agreed by the parties to sign the deal by the date of Terna’s general shareholders’ meeting. The full commitment of Terna’s and Cemig’s principals and internal and external legal teams involved in the deal were essential to meet such a schedule.”
The deal will hand Cemig the 3730km of transmission lines in Brazil that Terna controls.
Cemig also plans agreed to buy outstanding shares in Terna Participações from its minority shareholders, with the deal’s value rising to US$1.6 billion.
The transaction will make Cemig the third largest transmission company in the Brazilian market, after state-owned Electrobras and São Paulo’s regional company CTEEP.
The deal is still subject to approval by Cemig’s shareholders, as well as Brazil’s antitrust agency CADE, and energy regulator ANEEL.
Counsel to Terna
In-house counsel - Ari Cesar de Almeida
Souza, Cescon Avedissian, Barrieu e Flesch Advogados
Partners Maria Cristina Cescon Avedissian and Maurício Teixeira dos Santos and associates Fernanda Ferreira Bastos, Carolina Cavalcanti Landau and Ingrid Thomas Hessling
Counsel to Cemig
Pinheiro Guimarães - Advogados
Partners Plinio Pinheiro Guimaraes, Fabio Yanitchkis Couto and Daniela Melo Fassheber and associate René Mostardeiro Brunet
Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados
Partners Antonio Correa Meyer, José Virgílio Lopes Enei, Eliana Gregório Chimenti, Ana Karina Esteves de Souza and associate Ricardo de Lima Assaf
(Latin Lawyer 28.04.2009)
(Notícia na Íntegra)
