Company & Corporate annual report efficient in retaining female legal talent in the long term ”, he adds .
Lawyers in Spain will be hoping that the end of ten months of political uncertainty – following the reappointment of Mariano Rajoy as Prime Minister after a confidence vote – will give investors more confidence . One partner comments that some international clients were considering closing their offices in Spain prior to confirmation that Rajoy would continue to lead the Spanish government .
Portugal : Energy in demand Investors are particularly interested in acquiring Portuguese energy sector assets at present , according to MLGTS partner Ricardo Andrade Amaro . He adds : “ Portuguese energy companies are selling minority stakes to funds – in general , in 2016 , there has been huge interest in the Portuguese market and revenue from M & A / corporate work will increase in 2017 .”
However , there is an opposing view that investors ’ interest in the Portuguese market cooled in the last 12 months . FCB Sociedade De Advogados partner Pedro Guimarães says that , while 2015 was a tremendous year for his firm , investors have been wary about the Portuguese market in 2016 , and that this has been partly – though not primarily – due to the fact that “ some investors feel Portugal is over-bureaucratic ”.
Linklaters ’ counsel Diogo Plantier Santos says there have been significant deals with a real estate component , as well as consolidation in the banking and insurance sectors . Meanwhile , according to Vasco Bivar de
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There are some big-ticket transactions , but there have been mostly midmarket deals in the energy and real estate sectors .
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Vasco Bivar de Azevedo , Cuatrecasas , Gonçalves Pereira
Azevedo , partner at Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira , Portuguese assets are currently “ very cheap ”. He continues : “ There are some big-ticket transactions , but there have been mostly midmarket deals in the energy and real estate sectors , including some tourism development – there has also been an increase in interest from private equity and venture capital investors , particularly in the tech business area in recent times .” The future of Portugal ’ s banks will determine future M & A activity , says Serra Lopes , Cortes Martins Advogados partner Francisco Barona . He adds that there has been a number of deals recently in the real estate , tourism and startup sectors . However , Barona says “ uncertainty means there are no longer large transactions .”
There are some doubts about future prospects for M & A deals in Portugal , argues João Gonçalo Galvão , partner at Campos Ferreira , Sá Carneiro & Associados . “ The restructuring of the banking sector will impact on their [ banks ] ability to finance companies ,” he says . “ There has been a shift in decision-making in the national banking sector , in particular to Spain .” Portugal ’ s left-wing government is not deterring clients from investing in Portugal , says Vieira de Almeida partner Paulo Trinidade Costa . However , he adds that the “ capacity of the market to feed itself with transactions is a concern ”. Trinidade Costa continues : “ There will be a lot of restructuring and consolidation in the banking sector – new investors are coming , including investment funds from different areas of the world , including Australia and Indonesia .” There continues to be interest in Portuguese assets and new players – particularly from China , Brazil and Turkey – have been
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Foreign direct investment is growing , particularly in real estate , and there are still some opportunistic and distressed deals .
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Javier Marzo Garrigues
investing , according to Plantier Santos .
‘ Carve-outs ’ A large amount of transactional activity is related to corporate ‘ carve-outs ’ [ where a company sells a subsidiary business to outside investors ], says Bivar de Azevedo . He adds that , particularly with regard to investors from China , there is a demand for capped or fixed fees from law firms , while venture capital deals tend to generate lower legal fees . SRS Advogados partner Nuno Miguel Prata argues that clients are “ less price sensitive than they were three or four years ago ” and that the average billing rate is higher now than it was then and law firms are in a position to increase hourly rates . Another partner at a leading firm in Portugal remarks that clients no longer “ give the same value to all legal work ”. The partner adds : “ This could put stress on partner relations within a firm as clients will pay different prices for different types of work – firms will therefore have to evolve .”
Work done by Portuguese firms is underpriced compared to that done by peers in other European jurisdictions , such as Spain , France and Germany , says Eduardo Paulino , partner at MLGTS . “ It ’ s important that international clients come [ to Portugal ] prepared to pay more adequately ,” he adds . Guimarães says that , while part of law firms ’ work is becoming commoditised , clients always value skills such as negotiating and closing . He adds : “ Clients do not always want ‘ one-stop-shops ’ and we ’ re seeing the development of some specialised boutiques as a result – however , ‘ one-stopshops ’ remain a clear choice for a lot of clients in a lot of cases .” Though there are several boutique
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