Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced Otavio Carneiro has joined the firm’s Corporate Practice Group as a partner in the Miami office. Dual-licensed in Brazil and the United States, he joins Akerman from Veirano Advogados in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, bringing extensive experience in the areas of cross-border and domestic transactions, particularly mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and banking and finance in a diverse set of sectors, including oil and gas, infrastructure, insurance, payment processing services, shipping, IT, etc.
“Otavio’s representation of major corporations in cross border and domestic corporate and financing transactions greatly enhances our offering to clients.” said Pedro Freyre, chair of Akerman’s International Practice. “He brings meaningful knowledge to complex inbound and outbound ventures across Latin America, with an emphasis on Brazil.”
Carneiro has spearheaded a number of significant, high-profile transactions. He played an integral role in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, having represented the United States Olympic Committee in a five-year project leading up to the event. Carneiro served as counsel for many companies that wanted to start operations or acquire businesses in Brazil. He represented a major European airport operator in the privatization process in Brazil. On the transactional front, he served as counsel to many companies that provide services and large equipment to the oil and gas industry in Brazil, having also assisted companies in the acquisition of Oil blocks in the country. On another front, he advised on the financing for the construction of the biggest shipyard in the Southern Hemisphere worth over $1 billion. His work stretches Latin America, having represented U.S. and European companies, as well Asian groups in transactions in Brazil. Carneiro advised a major Japanese corporation in the structuring of a joint venture with a Chinese company for the manufacturing and sale in Brazil of electronic equipment and another major Japanese group in a joint venture with a US conglomerate to build a factory of excavator machines in Sao Paulo.
“Otavio is a highly accomplished lawyer and will play an important role in the continued growth of our Brazil practice. His arrival underscores our continued commitment to deepening our Brazil bench at Akerman,” said Felipe Berer, chair of Akerman’s Brazil Practice.
Carneiro will focus his work on outbound investment in Brazil and Latin America and inbound investment from Brazil into the United States. Carneiro has assisted a number of clients in transactional and regulatory work in a variety of sectors, such as oil and gas, infrastructure, IT, banking, mining, construction, shipping, real estate, and agriculture, among others. He concentrates his practice on cross border and domestic mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions, including joint ventures, divestitures, corporate reorganizations, and loan transactions involving foreign banks and multilateral agencies and Brazilian banks.
Prior to joining Akerman, Carneiro was a partner at Veirano Advogados in Brazil. He is a former member of Veirano’s Management Committee and Board of Directors and he played a pivotal role in the success and expansion of the firm’s Corporate M&A and Infrastructure Practices.
Source: www.akerman.com
