"An important firm with a lot of good local clients," is how one competitor describes Cárdenas & Cárdenas. "They have a lot of history in the market and they are very reputable....
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"An important firm with a lot of good local clients," is how one competitor describes Cárdenas & Cárdenas. "They have a lot of history in the market and they are very reputable." The firm is noted by the market for having a strong family presence at the heart of the firm and for an association with some of the best corporations in the country. Another rival attorney notes, "They work with some of the best Colombian clients around."
This year, the firm made a strong showing in Colombia's growing project finance market. Several new associates were hired on the finance side, presumably to handle the increased workload. Cárdenas & Cárdenas was particularly active in the infrastructure sector of project finance, working with both borrowers and project sponsors as the country's expanding economy generated a project finance resurgence.
The firm also provides a comprehensive range of corporate services, though, for numerous international clients in addition to the Colombian companies it counsels: "Their ability and service in terms of financial law was excellent," comments one of those clients. "They negotiated documents for us – very important ones – and they participated directly with corporate advisors in New York, in São Paulo, in Mexico and elsewhere. They represented us perfectly when we needed it."
Deals
The project finance team was busy last December in a multi-firm operation in which Cárdenas & Cárdenas counselled the senior lenders in financing the Refinería de Cartagena, an affiliate of Ecopetrol. The $3.5 billion loan was among the largest in the country last year and was intended to expand and update the existing refinery operation.
Again in December the firm advised Pacific Rubiales Energy Corporation as it issued a package of senior notes due in 2021. The $300 million issuance represents significant financing for Pacific Rubiales, which is one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in Colombia.
On the M&A side of the practice, Cárdenas & Cárdenas represented Genivar as it was acquired by Consultores Regionales Asociados (CRA) in January of this year. Genivar is a Canadian company and was acquired in this multi-million dollar transaction by CRA, a Bogotá-based engineering firm.
Bernardo P Cárdenas (Leading lawyer bio)
Eduardo Cárdenas (Leading lawyer bio)
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