Guyer & Regules

Guyer & Regules is the first and only Uruguayan firm to have been recognized as "Latin America Law firm of the Year", "Uruguayan Law Firm of the Year" for seven years and to have received the "Client Service Award" twice by Chambers & Partners. The firm has also been recognized as "Uruguay Tax Firm of the Year" by International Tax Review ? Euromoney for three consecutive years, as "Uruguay Firm of the Year" by International Financial Law Review ? Euromoney on four occasions and as "Firm of the Year ? Uruguay" by Who?s Who Legal for six consecutive years.

Guyer & Regules is proud to be considered Uruguay's blue chip firm and first choice for international and domestic legal, accounting and tax work. Such a reputation is grounded on the firm's solid team of internationally trained professionals and the largest group of the most experienced partners in the country, who have become the clients' trusted advisers through daily service excellence.

Main international areas of practice:

Banking & Finance

Guyer & Regules' leadership is "undisputed" advising 66% of the private banks active in Uruguay and two out of three large private pension fund managers. It has also been the only Uruguayan firm in the past 30 years in Uruguayan sovereign debt deals. Recent deals include: assisting HSBC and JP Morgan in US$2 billion Uruguay's sovereign debt issuance and Latin America's largest pension fund Sura and Uruguayan state-owned mortgage provider Banco Hipotecario in debt offerings; helping Citicorp provide a US$200 million credit facility to the Banco de la Rep?blica Oriental del Uruguay; structuring an innovative forestry trust that obtained Central Bank approval for the deferred purchase of shares by pensions following an issuance; assisting UK asset management company Compass secure permission from the Central Bank to let pension funds purchase a larger than normal equity stake in the trust's offering; leading the first 144A issuance by a Uruguayan company in two decades, as well as various project finance deals.

Corporate, M&A

As Chambers & Partners states, Guyer & Regules "continues to set the pace in the corporate sphere" having participated in 63% of major M&A deals made public in Uruguay over the past years and working for 8 out of 10 of the country's top exporting companies. As a few highlights, the firm helped Canadian pension funds acquire stakes in Uruguayan renewables assets from Santander as part of a multi-billion dollar multijurisdictional energy portfolio sold by the Spanish bank;assisted Californian electronics company Ingram Micro in steering the Uruguay leg of its acquisition of Brazilian IT technology distributor A??o Inform?tica; advised shipping container company Compa?ia Sudamericana de Vapores on its merger with Germany's Hapag-Lloyd; assisted Brazilian state-owned energy company Petrobras on its offshore oil block divestment to Shell; and participated in Grupo Exito's acquisition of Casino's LatAm assets, named "Deal of the Year" by Latin Lawyer.

Tax & Accounting

The team has been recognized by International Tax Review? Euromoney as the top Uruguayan firm for three consecutive years and was presented with the Americas Energy Tax Deal of the Year award. "This corporate heavyweight is a point of reference in tax-related matters" as Chambers & Partners states. Recent deals include: developing tax structures for clients seeking to bid for Uruguay's offshore blocks and a relevant tax victory on behalf of Uruguay's largest pulp mill project Montes del Plata (Arauco-Stora Enso), successfully establishing before the Supreme Administrative Court that a government levy on the import of goods into a port it is constructing is illegal.

Real Estate

By far the largest and most experienced team in the country, delivering "innovative solutions, commercial thinking and a personalised service on every single detail" as Chambers Latin America reviews. Has a very strong presence in tourism and residential developments (especially in Punta del Este and its surroundings), industrial developments, agribusiness and forestry investments. Recent deals include: advising Union Agriculture Group (UAG) to complete a 67,000-hectare land acquisition; assisting Montes del Plata (Arauco-Stora Enso) in the acquisition of lands and forests to reach a current surface of 170,000 hectares for forestry exploitation; acquisition of real estate for the installation of Chilean Sodimac in Uruguay; assisting TGLT in the development and sale of a high value project of apartments in an exclusive waterfront of 11,000 square meters; and helping the largest South American retailer Grupo ?xito in the negotiation and drafting of the renewal of 15 year lease agreements for five key stores in Uruguay.

Litigation

A "trustworthy and ethical team that performs far above the standard level in the market" as Legal 500 indicates. It specializes in complex civil and commercial litigation and arbitration, domestic and international, generally involving high-profile cases. Recent matters include helping Cereoil successfully navigate an USD 8 million wheat deal gone awry, aiding Brazilian food company Marfrig settle a USD 36 million claim arising out of the purchase of a leather holding, and assisting Jaguar Land Rover in ending a dispute with previous Uruguayan distributor worth USD 3 million, all negotiated to outstanding results for the clients. The team also recently participated in the ICSID Arbitration Philip Morris filed against the Uruguayan State.

Labour

The team excels for its services both in advisory and litigious labour matters. "The lawyers have deep technical knowledge, are committed to the client and stay up to date regarding changes in the law" as Chambers Latin America reviews. They represented all of the Uruguayan financial entities in the collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the banking union and the government as well as the Chamber of Insurance Companies. Other recent work highlights include advising Banque Heritage in all labour aspects of the purchase of Lloyd's Bank; assisting Citibank (Citi Asesores) and Christophersen (Tramaco) in labour claims; and Chery Socma on collective agreements due to union conflicts.

Energy

The team "shows clear leadership in the oil and gas industries" as Chambers Latin America states, advising the 3 international companies with oil and gas exploration rights in Uruguay: Tullow Oil, British Gas/Shell and Total. Moreover, it facilitated the implementation of the exclusive natural gas pipeline transporting natural gas from Argentina to Uruguay. The team also leads in renewable energies advising (either from the financing, sponsor or investor side), over 50% of the wind farms that contracted with the state-owned power company UTE and in the development of wind farms, photovoltaic farms and biomass power plants.