Dino Barajas Talks Latin American M&A with Daily Journal

Daily Journal has quoted Akin Gump corporate partner Dino Barajas in its article “M&A Heats Up in Latin America” on how the region is drawing U.S. companies—and deal lawyers.

Barajas notes that Latin America is a “brewing market on an upward tick. There are a number of U.S. companies looking into Latin America as a diversification strategy and long-term growth strategy. As growth opportunities in other markets have gone flat, Latin America continues to rise in terms of market size."

In addition to U.S. investment in the region, Latin American companies are also entering the U.S. market.  Barajas says that states such as those with large Latino communities are strong markets for these companies, noting “Because of the Mexican immigrant population and concentration, California and Texas are two very easy markets to set up shop and have an established customer base. From that point of view, there are opportunities for cross-border investments from both sides.”

Discussing legal representation in Latin America for U.S. companies looking to make deals, Barajas notes that, often, companies simply transfer their established legal representatives, who may not be familiar with the region, to handle this new work: “They end up having to reinvent the wheel and in some cases make fundamental mistakes. They don't realize some of the particular issues that you need to deal with as you move into these jurisdictions.”