Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira has opened an office in Mexico and is set to open its doors in Beijing as part of a push to grow its international presence.
The Iberian firm told The Lawyer that its launch in Mexico hinged on its long-standing relationship with Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos), which asked the firm to support it during its privatisation process.
The firm launched with two partners in the Mexico office earlier this year. The plan, according to managing partner Jorge Badía, is to hire more fee-earners in the medium term to expand the firm’s capability to provide legal services to further clients.
The firm’s Beijing office, which is still subject to regulatory approval, will launch with the relocation of one of the firm’s Shanghai partners. The strategic reason behind the launch is to capture inbound Chinese investment into Spain.
The firm is the latest in a string of Iberian firms looking to expand its international presence abroad – in 2014 Uría Menéndez took a 30 per cent stake in Latin American merged firms Philippi and Prietocarrizosa with plans to complete a takeover,while Garrigues embarked on a strategy to open its own offices in the region in 2013, and merged with Colombia player DLP in 2015 and named Argentina and Chile as its next targets.
Garrigues also has a significant presence in China, with offices in both Shanghai and Beijing – the latter opening in 2015 and growing the firm’s international network to 33 offices in 12 countries.
Last year Pérez-Llorca opened an office in New York to act as a hub and gateway to Latin America.