Davis Polk eyes Brazil for seventh overseas opening
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Davis Polk & Wardwell is to open an office in Brazil later this year, the firm announced today.
While the precise date remains subject to the approval of Brazilian authorities, the US firm believes its seventh overseas outpost could open its doors as early as the summer.
Davis Polk corporate partners Manuel Garciadiaz and Maurice Blanco will lead the São Paulo office, which the firm says will reinforce its already significant presence on the top deals in the region.
“Davis Polk has handled many of the most prominent, transformational deals to come out of Brazil,” Garciadiaz said.
“We’re excited to build on the momentum we’ve achieved over the past several years with a fully staffed office in this key economic region.”
Davis Polk has appeared on many of the largest international securities offerings, cross-border mergers and acquisitions and project financings involving Brazilian companies.
Recent highlights include advising Cosan S.A. Indústria e Comércio in its $12bn Brazilian joint venture with Shell International Petroleum; Banco Santander (Brasil) in its $7.5bn IPO; and Brazilian offshore oil and natural gas equipment and services company OSX Brasil in its $1.4bn IPO.
“Having a permanent, physical presence in such a strategically important region will only enhance the position we have already achieved as the ‘go-to’ international firm for the most sophisticated and complex transactions in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America,” said John Ettinger, managing partner of Davis Polk.
In addition to Garciadiaz and Blanco, the São Paulo team will also include partners from other Davis Polk offices. They include corporate partners Andrés Gil, Michael Willisch and Nicholas Kronfeld as well as M&A partners John Amorosi, Michael Davis, Diane Kerr and Paul Kingsley, and credit and project finance partner Waide Warner.
