“I congratulate Ricardo and George on being honored for their leadership of two important cross-border deals,” said Jennifer Wisinski, chair of Haynes and Boone’s Business Transactions Department. “The recognition underscores the extent to which our M&A Practice benefits from having diverse lawyers who reflect the clients and communities we serve across the globe.”
The M&A Advisor recognizes excellence and honors achievements among the world’s leading deal-making professionals. Winners were selected by an independent judging panel of industry experts who evaluated nominations representing over 200 firms worldwide.
The organization selected the following as a winner of the Materials Deal of the Year Award:
Acquisition of Mexico Based Corporación POK, S.A. de C.V by Nucor Corporation
A multi-office team of lawyers led by Partner George Y. Gonzalez represented equity owners of Corporación POK, S.A. de C.V. (POK) in the sale of stock to Nucor Corporation (Nucor).
Founded in 1894, POK is a Mexican industrial and oilfield services precision casting foundry that is headquartered in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. It has more than 425 employees at its Guadalajara foundry and was owned and managed by members of the 3rd and 5th generation of the founder's family.
Nucor is the largest steel producer in the U.S., with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada. In a statement, Nucor said the transaction will enable it to broaden its current product offerings and increase sales into new and existing markets.
The remainder of the team consisted of: Partners Edgar Klee, Jason Habinsky, John Eldridge, Odean Volker, Alberto de la Peña, Mitchell Miller, Ken Bezozo, and Gavin George, Counsel Ed Lebow, Associates Valisa Berber-Thayer, Mauricio Reynoso, Don Shiman, Fernanda Ruizesparza, Michael Scanlon and Joel Gonzalez, and Foreign Associate Fernando Villasenor.
Haynes and Boone was also recognized for its work on a matter that won the Cross-Border Deal of the Year Award in the “Over $1B” category:
Sale of Royal Dutch Shell plc's Downstream Business to Raízen Combustiveis S.A.
A Haynes and Boone team led by Partner Ricardo Garcia-Moreno represented Royal Dutch Shell plc and certain affiliates in the sale of its downstream business in Argentina to Raízen Combustiveis S.A. for U.S. $916 million in cash. The team also included Partners Alberto de la Peña and Patricia Mastropierro, Associate Valisa Berber-Thayer, Foreign Associate Fernando Villasenor, and others.
The sale included the Buenos Aires Refinery, around 645 retail stations, liquefied petroleum gas, marine fuels, aviation fuels, bitumen, chemicals and lubricants businesses, as well as supply and distribution activities in the country. The businesses acquired by Raízen will continue their relationships with affiliates of Shell through various commercial agreements negotiated in connection with such transactions with an estimated value of U.S. $300 million.
Haynes and Boone’s M&A Practice Group has comprehensive experience handling middle-market deals, having helped clients close more than 500 transactions in the last five years, with an aggregate value exceeding $40 billion. The firm routinely represents private equity firms, closely held corporations, founders, large financial institutions and Fortune 500 public companies. The M&A team prides itself on crafting strategic solutions that advance clients’ business objectives by anticipating and evaluating the roadblocks and opportunities that clients face on the way to closing a deal successfully.