| Biography:
Carlos E. Martinez is a partner with twenty years of experience in Latin American cross-border transactions. He has participated in numerous securities offerings by Latin American issuers, representing issuers, selling stockholders and underwriters. Mr. Martinez handles both equity and debt transactions, including high-yield debt offerings.
On the mergers and acquisitions area, Mr. Martinez has represented acquirers, investors and target companies in several cross-border transactions.
Mr. Martinez has also represented creditors and borrowers in a wide range of other financial transactions, including bank lending, project finance and asset-backed financings. In addition, Mr. Martinez has advised Latin American companies in the restructuring of their debt.
Some of the transactions in which Mr. Martinez has participated include:
- the US$1.5 billion Citigroup acquisition of the subsidiaries and certain assets and liabilities of Central America's second largest financial group, Grupo Cuscatlan, from Corporacion UBC International S.A.;
- the US$120 million subordinated notes Rule 144A/Regulation S offering by the Panamanian branch of Banco de Crédito del Perú, the largest commercial bank in Peru, representing Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., as underwriter. This was the first time that a Peruvian subordinated debt issuance received a higher rating than Peruvian sovereign debt;
- the acquisition from Enron Corp. of Azurix Corp, and its Argentine subsidiaries, which held the water services concessions for the Provinces of Buenos Aires and Mendoza;
- the sale of a minority interest in Euromayor, S.A. de Inversiones, a listed Argentine real estate development company, to an affiliate of J.E. Robert Companies, a large independent real estate investment company in the United States;
- the Brazilian IPO of Porto Seguro, S.A., the insurance company, which included U.S. private placement and Regulation S tranches;
- the U.S. $200 million ten-year, high-yield bond offering pursuant to Rule 144A and Regulation S for Corporación Interamericana de Entretenimiento, S.A. de C.V., the largest out-of-home entertainment company in Latin America;
- the U.S. $210 million acquisition by Votorantim Metais Ltda., a Brazilian mining and metallurgy group, of Refinería de Zinc de Cajamarquilla S.A., the owner and operator of the Cajamarquilla zinc refinery in Peru. The sellers were Teck Cominco Limited, the Canadian diversified mining company, and Marubeni Corporation, the Japanese conglomerate;
- the $1.2 billion acquisition of Pepsi-Gemex, S.A. de C.V., the Mexican bottler, by The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc., the largest bottler of Pepsico products in the world, pursuant to a dual tender offer in the United States and Mexico;
- the $400 million and the $300 million Rule 144A/Regulation S bond offerings by Grupo Votorantim, the Brazilian industrial and financial conglomerate, through special-purpose Cayman Islands vehicles;
- the euro 312.4 million initial public offering in Spain of Grifols, S.A., a Spanish-based leading global specialty biopharmaceutical company;
- the restructuring of $275 million of bonds of Maxcom Telecomunicaciones, S.A. de C.V., the Mexican local telephone company, through a Section 3(a)(9)-exempted transaction, which involved also a private equity investment of $66 million;
- the $1.2 billion public offering of a 35% interest in CANTV, the Venezuelan telecommunications company, by the Republic of Venezuela;
- the $535 million Rule 144A/Regulation S equity offering by Petrobras, the Brazilian national oil and gas company;
- a rights, primary and secondary offering totaling $147 million, a public exchange offer pursuant to a capital restructuring aggregating approximately $350 million and two high-yield debt offerings aggregating $500 million by Grupo Iusacell, the Mexican mobile telephony company;
- the $60 million initial public offering by Cresud, S.A.C.I.F. y A., the Argentine livestock and agricultural producer;
- the $162 million project finance-funded in the international capital markets for the construction of a delayed coker and cogeneration facility for Foster Wheeler and Empresa Nacional de Petroleo de Chile in Talcahuano, Chile;
- the $300 million high-yield debt and warrants offering by Maxcom Telecomunicaciones, S.A. de C.V., the Mexican “last-mile” connectivity local telephony company; and
- the $75.4 million initial public offering by Santa Isabel, S.A., the Chilean supermarket chain, as well as the $96.2 million public secondary offering that followed.
Several of Mr. Martinez' transactions were "first-of-a-kind," including some which were awarded "Deal of the Year" honors by specialized publications such as Latin Finance and Project Finance Magazine. In 2006, the legal publication Lawdragon honored Mr. Martinez by including him in its "Lawdragon 500 New Stars, New Worlds" list of U.S. attorneys. Also in 2006, the New York edition of the legal publication Super Lawyers listed Mr. Martinez as a top New York attorney.
Mr. Martinez obtained his law degree at Harvard Law School in 1987. Mr. Martinez has written articles on privatization capital markets, free trade agreements and restructurings in Latin America. He has also lectured on the legal aspects of international finance at several symposia and universities.
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