The ‘outstanding’ team at VdA Vieira de Almeida is ‘dynamic and innovative when handling complex transactions’.
The Angola-focused lawyers at Portuguese firm VdA Vieira de Almeida have 'deep knowledge in a variety of matters', including high-profile oil and gas, mining and finance transactions, and work in conjunction with Luanda-based firm RLA Advogados. The team's litigation practice has also grown. In internal developments. João Afonso Fialho heads the oil and gas department, and Hugo Moredo Santos is a key contact for banking and capital markets.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida is regularly instructed by major national and international clients in high-value corporate transactions and projects. The oil and gas, energy and banking sectors are particular sweet spots for the firm's Mozambique-focused lawyers, which include Teresa Empis Falcão and Manuel Protásio. In recent work, Pedro Cassiano Santos worked alongside associated local firm Guilherme Daniel & Associados (GdA) to advise Millennium BIM on the structuring of financing agreements funded by the European Investment Bank.
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The ‘excellent’, 'dynamic' team at VdA Vieira de Almeida is noted for its superb track record. It acts in complex, high-value deals for lenders and borrowers, handles regulatory matters and attracted some innovative work. It advised a banking syndicate consisting of Unicredit, Siemens Bank, BCP, Novo Banco, Demir-Halk Bank, DenizBank and the European Investment Bank on the €240m debt refinancing of six port operators. The matter was led by Pedro Cassiano Santos, who is singled out for his longstanding expertise. Paula Gomes Freire, Cláudia da Cruz Almeida and managing associates Tiago Correia Moreira and Benedita Aires are also recommended. Pedro Simões Coelho and Hugo Moredo Santos are the other names to note.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida advised JP Morgan Securities as arranger and placement agent and Hefesto STC as issuer on the Portuguese law aspects of the €580m securitisation of an NPL portfolio held by Caixa Económica Montepio Geral. Paula Gomes Freire led the case, with support from Hugo Moredo Santos and recommended managing associate Orlando Vogler Guiné. Pedro Cassiano Santos and José Pedro Fazenda Martins jointly lead the team.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida handles high-value, complex transactions for an impressive roster of clients. It advised MEO – Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia on the €660m sale of its telecoms tower business in Portugal and attracted a number of transactions in the financial services sector. The ‘fantastic’ Jorge Bleck is ‘a reference for everything he has done’; he co-heads the team with Paulo Olavo Cunha. Helena Vaz Pinto, Cláudia Cruz Almeida and managing partner João Vieira de Almeida are also recommended.
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‘Available, engaged and efficient’, VdA Vieira de Almeida's team is representing PT Ventures in a €100m ICSID arbitration against the state of Cape Verde in which the client claims compensation for expropriation following its removal from Cabo Verde Telecom, a company run in partnership between the two parties. The case is being led by practice heads Frederico Gonçalves Pereira and Miguel Pinto Cardoso; Miguel Pinto Cardoso is ‘on another level’, ‘objective’ and ‘very strong in court’.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida possesses broad knowledge encompassing all areas of EU and competition law and lawyers ‘always bear in mind that most issues can easily become litigious and therefore make sure to reduce any risk’. The team counts several high-profile domestic companies among its clients; it recently advised Meo on the sale of equity stakes in its telecoms tower businesses. Practice head Nuno Ruiz ‘possesses unrivalled knowledge of the applicable statutes and the relevant court decisions’. Managing associate Rita Aleixo Gregório and senior associate Cláudia Coutinho da Costa are also recommended. Ricardo Bordalo Junqueiro rejoined from Cuatrecasas in February 2018, having initially left in 2013. Miguel Mendes Pereira is another name to note.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida handles the entire gamut of employment matters, including in other Portuguese-speaking jurisdictions. It is representing one of the largest Portuguese private security companies in a case concerning the application of an employment termination provision in the event of appointment to the board. Managing associate Américo Oliveira Fragoso is a ‘well-seasoned lawyer with deep academic knowledge’, and both managing associates Tiago Piló and Tiago Cochofel de Azevedo are ‘strong advisers’. Piló heads the team jointly with Rui Andrade.
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Strong in both oil and gas and renewables, in the former case mostly active in luso- and francophone Africa, VdA Vieira de Almeida advised banks and operators on domestic renewables projects, and domestic and international oil and gas and electricity companies on operations abroad. Manuel Protásio leads the team, Vanda Cascão spearheads the firm’s Green Economy initiative, and João Afonso Fialho the oil and gas practice; the highly regarded Ana Luís de Sousa made partner.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida is ‘discreet’ and ‘very much aware of the surrounding environment’. It successfully represented Brisa director Vasco de Mello, who was accused by the public prosecutor of insider trading, and it is representing REN in a criminal investigation concerning alleged collusion between the government and the client and EDP at the time of the energy sector liberalisation in the 2000s. The team has also handled cybercrime cases. Sofia Ribeiro Branco is ‘always available’ and ‘develops sound and solid winning strategies’. João Medeiros joined the firm in September 2019 from PLMJ.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida has had roles in some of the country’s most prominent insolvencies and restructurings, including cross-border matters, handling in- and out-of-court procedures. Frederico Gonçalves Pereira and Paulo Olavo Cunha co-head the team; senior adviser Teresa Pitôrra is recommended. Joana Domingues left in January 2018 for a role in-house at PNCB - Plataforma de Negociação Integrada de Créditos Bancários.
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The ‘innovative and creative’ team at VdA Vieira de Almeida provides 'excellent strategic advice’ primarily on patent litigation and arbitration to clients including Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, and Merck Sharp & Dohme. It also assisted technology-sector clients with general IP matters, and design clients with trade marks issues. The ‘hugely experienced’ António de Magalhães Cardoso co-leads the team with the recommended António Andrade. Patrícia Paias left in November 2017 to take up a role in-house at Sandoz.
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Isabel Gião Andrade heads the Oporto office of VdA Vieira de Almeida, which works closely with the Lisbon team. It advised clients in the funds, manufacturing, energy, healthcare and technology sectors on corporate, tax, employment, public law, GDPR, governance and other internal issues, as well as disputes. It assisted CLdN in setting up a company providing ro-ro services as well as with the group’s reorganisation. STCP - Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos do Porto is another client. Managing associate Frederico Antas, Inês Ribera, João Soares Franco and Benedita Gonçalves are also noted.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida advises on planning matters related to domestic real estate and urban projects and disputes, and on infrastructure and energy projects in lusophone Africa. Domestically, the highlight was assisting IFRRU 2020 with the implementation of the financial mechanism for urban renewal and regeneration. Rodrigo Esteves de Oliveira and Raul Mota Cerveira lead the team.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida conjoins its strengths in finance, energy and infrastructure to advise lenders and contractors on projects, PPPs, project financing and refinancing, debt restructuring and transactions in Portugal and in lusophone Africa. A domestic highlight was assisting Banco BPI with the financing of a 25MW photovoltaic power plant with no guaranteed remuneration including a third-party power purchase agreement for a period of ten years. Energy specialists Teresa Empis Falcão, Vanda Cascão, and newly promoted partner Ana Luís de Sousa handled the matter. Manuel Protásio heads the practice. Paulo de Barros Baptista specialises in infrastructure and highway projects.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida ‘works very well as a team’, assisting high-profile domestic companies and public entities with the full range of public law matters. It represented Elos in arbitration, constitutional, and administrative judicial proceedings against the Portuguese state claiming compensation for the cancellation of a high-speed railway project. The ‘brilliant’ Mário Esteves de Oliveira heads the team jointly with Paulo Pinheiro, who is noted for his ‘strategic legal capacity and leadership vision’, and Rodrigo Esteves de Oliveira. All have ‘a practical mindset allied with profound knowledge of public law’. Catarina Pinto Correia was promoted to the partnership. Managing associates Ana Marta Castro and André Proença are also recommended.
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Solid as a team and individually, the 18-strong practice at VdA Vieira de Almeida is headed by the respected and ‘collaborative’ Pedro Ferreirinha, who, along with Miguel Marques dos Santos, advises a range of clients on complex and high-value acquisitions and sales of portfolios, offices, retail, hospitality and other commercial as well as residential properties. ‘Intelligent’ managing associate Pedro Pereira Coutinho provides ‘hands-on’ support.
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VdA Vieira de Almeida's team includes telecoms expert Margarida Couto, Fernando Resina da Silva, who handles IT and emerging technologies matters, and Magda Cocco, who has a focus on privacy, data protection and cybersecurity. It advised Altice subsidiary Meo on the sale of equity stakes in its telecoms tower businesses, and assisted the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology with drafting an innovative law for a national space strategy, including R&D and access to space by the private sector. The team also handles a variety of TMT matters in other Portuguese-speaking countries.
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‘Strong know-how, a 360 degree vision and efficiency’ is what makes VdA Vieira de Almeida's team stand out. It covers direct and indirect tax, litigation and arbitration, and continues to develop its reach in lusophone Africa and East Timor. Advising high-profile domestic and international clients, it has particular expertise in financial tax, recently assisting Banco de Portugal in relation to transactions emerging from the fallout of the financial crisis. Tiago Marreiros Moreira and Joaquim Pedro Lampreia are recommended, as are managing associates Ricardo Seabra Moura, Francisco Cabral Matos and Conceição Gamito. Samuel Fernandes de Almeida is another name to note.
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A multidisciplinary practice that pools many of the firm’s core strengths, VdA Vieira de Almeida covers the entire range of transport matters. Highlight work included representing a charterer in a dispute with a container terminal operator at the port of Luanda following a vessel collision with the terminal’s pier, and advising J.P. Morgan International Bank on the Portuguese law aspects of an English Law facility agreement to finance an aircraft intended for use in Portugal. Paulo de Barros Baptista, Teresa Empis Falcão, who covers infrastructure and mobility matters, aviation finance expert Pedro Simões Coelho, and shipping-focused João Afonso Fialho are the names to note.
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