A cross-border team from the New York and Mexico City offices of Haynes and Boone, LLP advised longstanding client, Grupo Fermaca S.A. de C.V., a market leader in the development and operation of energy infrastructure in Mexico, in connection with the acquisition by Partners Group, a global private equity firm headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, of a majority stake in Fermaca from New York private equity firm, Ospraie.
The transaction was valued at $750 million and funded through a combination of mezzanine debt and equity.
Following the recently announced energy reforms and liberalization of foreign ownership of energy assets in Mexico, the transaction represents a major advancement in Mexican infrastructure projects. Fermaca operates two major natural gas pipelines, the 237-mile long Tarahumara Pipeline which, through an interconnection at the U.S.-Mexican border, supplies natural gas from the United States to the Mexican state of Chihuahua and the Palmillas pipeline in the Mexican state of Toluca, which is operated by Tejas Gas de Toluca, a natural gas transportation company. Fermaca is also developing compression, cogeneration and liquefied natural gas projects.
Haynes and Boone’s cross-border team of corporate and finance attorneys guided Fermaca management through the structuring of this new relationship with Partners Group. The transaction was co-led by firm Partners Antonio Franck (Mexico City) and George H. Wang (New York), and in-house counsel Laura Trejo Chaparro. Additional members of the Haynes and Boone team included New York Associate Christopher Perez and Mexico City Senior Attorney Cesar Ramirez-Del Angel.
