Juan Pablo Avila

Juan Pablo Ávila

Associate
Mexico City
About

Juan Pablo Ávila specializes in structured finance, energy and infrastructure, and project finance. He has extensive experience in the Mexican and international energy sector. Juan Pablo began his career at a firm specializing in energy law, where he advised developers and financial institutions during the implementation of the 2014 Energy Reform. This experience allowed him to develop a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory and commercial framework of the electricity and hydrocarbons sectors in Mexico.

Juan Pablo also has extensive international experience in the area of global financial markets, where he has represented financial institutions, development banks, and local and international sponsors in corporate financing, energy and infrastructure project financing, and financing for mergers and acquisitions of projects and companies in the United States and Latin America, including Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.

Areas of FocusFinanceEnergy and Natural ResourcesProjects and Project Finance
Bar admissionsMexico

EXPERIENCE

  • Participated in the representation of Actis in the acquisition of MT Falcon, owner and operator of five combined-cycle gas turbine power plants with a total capacity of 2.2 GW and an adjacent gas pipeline
  • Advising a syndicate of creditors, including Natixis, New York Branch, on the granting of a reserve-based lending, the first of its kind in Mexico, to Petrolera Cárdenas Mora, a subsidiary of Egypt's Cheiron Petroleum Corporation
  • Representation of Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior and The Korean Development Bank in the financing for the development, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of a 101 MW photovoltaic solar generation facility in Coahuila, Mexico
  • Assisted Mitsui & Co., Ltd, as borrower during the negotiation of the financing for the development, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of an 80.3 MW photovoltaic solar generation facility in Zacatecas, Mexico
  • Advised on the representation of an entity engaged in payroll lending in various structured financings for the purpose of expanding its operations in Mexico
  • Participated in the representation of Reden Solar in the refinancing of two portfolios of solar photovoltaic generation projects in Chile through a private placement under the Section 4(a)(2) exemption
  • Advised a global investment firm on the legal and commercial due diligence of a portfolio of carbon projects located in Mexico, Peru, Ghana, and India
  • Participated advising the head of a global collaboration platform established by the World Bank in designing and implementing its resource mobilization strategy to broaden its strategic partnerships with international private investors and a major multilateral climate fund
  • Participated in the representation of sponsors Sacyr Concesiones S.L. and Ocho A S.A., in a US$458 million zero coupon Rule 144A/Regulation S bond arranged by Goldman Sachs & Co., and a US$200 million working capital and long-term project finance facilities provided by the IDB, for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a Road Project in Paraguay
  • Participated in the representation of IDB Invest and Bancolombia as lenders in the financing of two photovoltaic solar generation projects with an aggregate capacity of 252MW in Colombia, one of the largest solar plant financing in such country to this date
 
Languages
  • Spanish
  • English
Education
  • LL.M., Northwestern University
    with honors
  • Law Degree, Ibero–American University

Prior Experience

Before joining DLA Piper, Juan Pablo worked at another multinational law firm in Washington, DC, as part of the Global Financial Markets team and at Pollination Capital Partners in Chicago, Illinois, as a consultant on renewable energy, carbon credits, and sustainability. Juan Pablo was also an associate at an international firm in Mexico, as part of the Energy Infrastructure and Project Finance team.

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Phone

+52 55 5261 1853
(Work, Mexico City)