Address:
6ª. Avenida 12-24 zona 10, Edificio HQ Fontabella
Nivel 8
Guatemala City, 00000
Guatemala

+50222401600


Key contacts:

Partner: Luis Pedro del Valle
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Quick facts:

Number of lawyers: 26
Number of partners : 5
Network memberships: INTA, IBA, ASIPI, PRAC
Languages: Spanish, English, French, German, and Portuguese


Arias is the leading global business law firm in Central America and the firm of choice in the region. The firm stands out for providing innovative and effective solutions that help clients achieve their business goals, while enjoying the benefits of working with an integrated firm, with presence in six countries through seven offices, 42 partners, and 130 highly trained and experienced attorneys and offices in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

Since 1942, Arias has been setting the standards in the region by combining its global reach with local expertise, and providing a visionary outlook on the world’s business environment.

Our team: Among our staff, we have attorneys with many years of experience in several practice areas combined with young lawyers. This means our firm is constantly innovating and adapting to the needs of today’s world, which ensures we are able to offer our clients the best legal talent in the region.

Areas of practice: Arias is a full-service firm, providing advice in over 33 practice areas, with renowned specialists in each jurisdiction. Some of the firm’s main practice areas include: corporate, antitrust, mergers and acquisitions, tax, arbitration and litigation, compliance, banking and finance, intellectual property, labor law, energy, oil and gas, real estate, immigration, and general counsel services, among others.

Our focus: We make things happen. We provide creative and innovative legal solutions that add value to our clients, taking the time to know and understand their business goals, while always focused on providing reliable and accurate legal services, with their best interests in mind.

International reach: The firm advises on local and cross-border transactions, assisting some of the major international corporations doing business in the region, and also providing legal support to local clients going abroad.

Recognitions and awards: Consistently, we have been honored with important recognitions and awards such as “Firm of the Year in Central America”, “Firm of the year” in the countries we operate, “Client Service Award”, “Best Regional Firm for Women in Business Law”, “Deal of the Year”, among other relevant regional and local awards for the firm and our members.

Equal opportunities: We promote diversity within the firm, professional growth is based on each individual’s merit regardless of gender or ethnics.

  • 47% of our partners are women
  • 48% of our associates are women
  • 57% of our management positions are held by women
  • 100% of our managing partners are women
  • 2,000 Pro-bono hours per year: Corporate social responsibility and Pro-bono work have always been an important part of our DNA. We believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to inspire and generate positive changes in our environment in order to achieve and ensure a better future for the next generations.

 

  • Banking
  • Asset finance
  • Financial restructuring
  • Financial services regulatory
  • M&A
  • PPP/PFI
  • Private equity
  • Project development
  • Project finance
  • Real estate finance
  • Restructuring and insolvency
  • Structured finance/securitisation
  • Capital markets: Debt
  • Capital markets: Equity
  • Competition
  • Investment funds
  • Securitisation
  • Trade finance

Mergers & Acquisitions:
Luis Pedro del Valle
luispedro.delvalle@ariaslaw.com

  • Arias Guatemala acted as lead counsel for Holcim in all the acquisition stages of Minerales y Agregados.
  • Arias provided legal advice to Univar Solutions Inc. (the buyer), a leading global solutions provider for users of specialty ingredients and chemicals, representing a premier portfolio of the world's leading producers, in the acquisition of ChemSol Group. ChemSol is a prominent distributor of ingredients and specialty chemicals operating in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, and Honduras.
  • Arias Guatemala provided advice as local counsel to RelaDyne, Inc. (the buyer), an established leader in lubricant, bulk oil, and fuel distribution in the USA, during its strategic acquisition of Lucalza Holdings, Inc. for USD 85,000,000.00. Lucalza is a key distribution company of lubricants, fuels, filters, batteries and tires for the automotive and industrial sector in general, with a presence in 6 countries, being the largest Chevron lubricants distributor in the world.
  • Our regional team at Arias advised Hoshizaki in the strategic alliance with Fogel through the acquisition of shares in Fogel Company Inc. During the negotiation process, ARIAS played a key role as Hoshizaki's lead legal advisor in Central America. With its six regional offices, ARIAS provided legal advice in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, facilitating Hoshizaki's first investment in the Central American region. Luis Pedro del Valle coordinated the transaction.


Banking and Finance:
Luis Pedro del Valle
luispedro.delvalle@ariaslaw.com

  • Luis Pedro and his team acted as local counsels for Natixis, Standard Chartered Bank, Banco Santander, ING, and other creditors in a syndicated term loan facility in favor of Impala Terminals Group (ITG) Sàrl. Stage 1: A local borrower in Guatemala accessed a term loan facility of USD $711,600,000.00 in favor of ITG Sàrl for the acquisition of energy infrastructure and storage terminals business owned by Puma Energy. o Stage 2: To refinance the original loan described in "stage 1", the debtors acquired a loan for USD $525,000,000.00
  • Truist Bank, acting as the administrative and facility agent on behalf of eleven different financial institutions, granted a two-tranche loan to Evertec Group and its subsidiaries for corporate purposes and the refinancing of existing indebtedness. Luis Pedro del Valle and our team of experts provided legal advice as local counsel to the eleven creditors who granted a USD $615,000,000.00 loan to Evertec Group and its subsidiaries.
  • The Inter-American Investment Corporation IDB entered into a syndicated senior loan of up to USD $250,000,000.00 loan in favor of Corporación Multi-Inversiones CMI, one of the biggest business groups in the Central American food industry to contribute to food safety in Central America. Luis Pedro del Valle and our team of experts served as local Guatemalan counsel to the IDB, acting as a lender to CMI’s local subsidiaries focused on food production and services (4 entities constituted as Co-Borrowers).
  • Glas Trust Corporation sought Arias' legal advice as local counsel in a financing granted to Atento Luxco, for USD 50,000,000.00 which is a holding company of Atento's group. This financing is part of Atento's group debt restructuring strategy. Luis Pedro del Valle and our team of experts acted as local counsels.
  • Banco Santander and Bladex granted a loan of up to USD $71,475,000.00 in favor of Ransa, a sociedad limitada organized under the laws of Spain as the Borrower, to acquire a group of corporations in the logistics business in Latin America, free of any material liability or contingency, and for the repayment of financial debt. Throughout the transaction, Luis Pedro del Valle and our team of experts served as the lenders' local counsel, providing financing to Ransa for the acquisition of several entities engaged in the logistics business in Latin America.

  • Agriculture
  • Aviation
  • Banking
  • Consumer goods and services
  • Energy
  • Financial services
  • Food and beverage
  • Forestry
  • Healthcare
  • Industrials
  • Insurance
  • Media
  • Natural resources
  • Oil and gas
  • Pharm and life sciences
  • Real estate
  • Tech and telecoms
  • Social infrastructure