Nuno_Azevedo_Neves

Nuno Azevedo Neves

Partner
Country Managing Partner, Portugal
Head of Corporate M&A, Portugal
Head of Finance and Projects, Portugal
Nuno Azevedo Neves is very solutions-oriented, pragmatic and commercially sensitive. He is a true dealmaker.
Chambers and Partners Global 2025
About

Nuno Azevedo Neves has over 30 years’ experience of advising companies, private equity funds and investor groups with all matters relating to corporate law, particularly Portuguese mergers and acquisitions, financing and projects, financing regulation and restructuring, and distressed investments.

He is one of the most experienced lawyers in the financial sector and is recognised by his peers and the market for his work on numerous complex deals for domestic and foreign clients. He has a remarkable track record of acting as lead partner on many major, high-profile M&A transactions and cross-border deals and privatisations.

Nuno has represented clients in a broad range of industries, including energy , financial services, technology, sports, tourism and real estate. Nuno is the head of both the Corporate M&A and Finance and Projects departments and is also a key contact in DLA Piper’s Latin America team.

Nuno is currently attending the Owner President Manager (OPM) program at Harvard Business School (2025–2027). He is a certified Tax Law specialist by the Portuguese Bar Association and a former Tax Arbitrator at CAAD.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONSAdvogado admitted with the Ordem dos Advogados (Portuguese Bar Association)

EXPERIENCE

Nuno’s experience includes advising:

  • Nani Holdings S.à. r.l., an affiliate of Lone Star Funds on the acquisition (EUR 4.9bn in 2017) and sale (EUR 6.4bn in 2025) of the Novo Banco, S.A., one of the main Portuguese commercial banks, to BPCE, a leading European banking institution, marking the culmination of a multi-year transformation process.
  • Keensight and Vision-Box Holding on the sale of 100% of the share capital of Vision Box (a technology company specializing in biometric solutions and automated border control systems) to Amadeus IT Group, for an enterprise value of approximately EUR 320M.
  • A Chinese multinational conglomerate on the EUR 1bn acquisition, through a privatisation process, of the largest insurance group in Portugal, representing 30% of the country’s insurance market.
  • UK’s largest independent insurance distribution platform on the acquisition of 100% of the shares of the largest Portuguese insurance broker for an amount exceeding EUR 200M.
  • A leading renewable energy company on the sale of its full equity shareholding in a wind portfolio located in Portugal for an enterprise value of EUR530m (EUR2.4m per MW). This deal was subject to customary closing adjustments.
  • A Portugal-based company involved in the renewable energy sector on the financing of the portfolio acquisition contributed in the company’s EUR150m IPO.
  • On the capital increase of a leading renewable energy company by launching an offering of its shares via an accelerated bookbuild, targeting gross proceeds of c. EUR1.5bn. This was a very innovative deal combining a share capital increase of the company amounting to EUR1.5bn with a share loan from the energy company to a banking syndicate, as the transfer agent of the operation.
  • A leading European commercial bank on the acquisition of the assets and liabilities of a Portuguese commercial bank, following a resolution measure applied to the Bank by the Bank of Portugal.
  • A company in the energy sector focusing on renewable energies on the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of a company incorporated under Polish law, which operates in the field of wind and photovoltaic energy and has operations in Poland, Greece, Italy and France. As the transaction was executed in the context of the company’s IPO, this work included cooperation with the legal and financial teams involved in the IPO. The transaction also involved financing arrangements.
  • A leading renewable energy company on the sale of two SPVs holding five wind farm projects (221 MW). We provided legal assistance with the M&A process, drafting and negotiation of NDAs, full legal vendor’s DD; drafting and negotiation of transaction documents, and project and regulatory matters. This transaction contributed EUR532m of asset rotation proceeds and was within the context of the EUR8bn asset rotation program for 2021-25.
Languages
  • Portuguese
  • English
  • French
  • Spanish

Awards and recognition

  • Ranked as Leading Partner in Commercial, Corporate and M&A by Legal 500 EMEA 2025
  • Ranked as Highly regarded in Corporate/M&A and Banking by IFLR1000 2025
  • Ranked in Corporate/M&A: The Elite by Chambers and Partners Europe 2025
  • Ranked in Banking & Finance by Chambers and Partners Europe 2025
  • Distinguished by Iberian Lawyer as one of Top 10 Lawyers in Portugal for 2025
  • In the top 10 Portuguese legal advisors for M&A transactions, Transactional Track Record (TTR)
Education
  • Harvard Business School, in Owner President Manager (OPM), 2025-2027
  • McGeorge School of Law, LL.M. in Transnational Business Practice, 1998
  • Instituto Superior de Gestão, Post Graduate Degree in Tax Law, 1995

    Lisbon University School of Law, Law degree, 1994

Publications and media

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Portuguese Tax Association
  • Portuguese Association of Tax Consultants
  • Lisbon Delegation of the Portuguese Bar Association, 2002-07