Mexico

Landmark judicial precedent in antitrust trial
We represented Grupo Aeroméxico in an amparo trial against a resolution (the "Resolution") issued by the Federal Antitrust Commission (the "Commission") that determined that our client's scheduling of take-offs and landings (known as slots) at Mexico City's International Airport caused inefficiencies and anticompetitive effects in the market for regular passenger transportation, and imposed several remedies to reverse the aforementioned effects.

After nearly three years of trial, on July 9, 2020, a Federal Court of Appeal issued a favorable judgment, ruling the Resolution infringed our client's constitutional rights. According to the Federal Court of Appeal, the Resolution was contrary to the constitutional principle of "separation and independence," which establishes that the authority dealing with the investigation must be different from the one that resolves the procedure. Furthermore, we successfully proved that the procedure carried out by the Commission when issuing the Resolution was illegal, given that the investigating authority disclosed information during the investigation to the resolving authority and that the latter assisted the former in conducting the investigation.

Victory for Altán Redes, preventing threat to US$7 billion project
We represented Altán Redes in an amparo trial initiated by Rivada Networks and Spectrum Frontier against the bid award of the Red Compartida project (the largest telecommunications infrastructure project in Mexico's history), issued by the Ministry of Communications and Transportations (SCT) on November 17, 2016. Rivada was disqualified from the bid proceeding for not presenting the performance bond and therefore decided to file an amparo lawsuit arguing that such documentation was not a substantial part of the technical proposal and that the authorities of the SCT were bound to request a clarification thereof prior to the disqualification. After nearly four years of trial, on June 4, 2020, a collegiate tribunal issued a favorable final judgment denying the amparo protection requested by Rivada Networks and Spectrum Frontier. In light of the above, the bid award is now irreversible and there are no potential risks to third parties, including investors and clients.

FEFA MXN 180 billion certificados bursátiles issuance
Representation of Fondo Especial para Financiamientos Agropecuarios (FEFA), a Mexican governmental development trust dedicated to agriculture, in four issuances of long-term debt certificates (FEFA 19 for MXN 2.04 billion, FEFA 19-2 for MXN 3.08 billion, FEFA 19-3 for MXN 2.4 billion and FEFA 19-4 for MXN 2 billion). Additionally, we represented FEFA in its green bond issuance (FEFA 19V) for MXN 2.5 billion (at a TIIE floating rate plus a spread of 0.14 percent), which was the first green bond in the Mexican market with forestalled proceeds. The green bond was certified by Sustainalytics and the Climate Bonds Initiative. Furthermore, we assisted FEFA in the registration of its private short/long-term debt certificates issuance program with subsequent series, for up to MXN 180 billion. It was a record-high authorization in the Mexican Stock Market.

First social bond issuance in Mexico and Latin America 
Representation of Fondo Especial para Financiamientos Agropecuarios (FEFA), a Mexican governmental development agency dedicated to grant financing in the agricultural sector, in the issuance of three tranches of bonds for a total aggregate amount of MXN 10 billion. One of the tranches was an inaugural social bond for FEFA, and the first of its kind in the domestic Mexican securities market and in Latin America. The bonds were placed via a local public placement on Bolsa Institucional de Valores (BIVA). The social bond has a gender-equality objective and proceeds were allocated to finance projects of accredited women who complied with the eligibility criteria, aligned with the 2020 Social Bond Principles established by the International Capital Market Association.

Principal Afore acquisition of MetLife Afore Capital
We represented Principal Afore, a Mexican retirement funds manager and an affiliate of the Principal Financial Group, in its acquisition of 100 percent of the stated capital of MetLife Afore.

BlackRock acquisition of Citibanamex asset management business
We represented BlackRock, Inc., an entity with approximately US$6 trillion in assets under management, in BlackRock's acquisition of the asset management business of Citibanamex, a subsidiary of Citigroup Inc. We also advised on the execution of a distribution agreement under which Citibanamex will distribute certain investment products offered by BlackRock. This transaction involved approximately US$35 billion in assets under management.

Comisión Federal de Electricidad energy and infrastructure investment trust
We represented the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), the national electric company of Mexico (100 percent owned by the Mexican government), as Mexican and New York counsel, in the first publicly traded Fibra E (energy and infrastructure investment trust) focused on Mexico's electric transmission sector and the first publicly traded company sponsored by CFE. CFE Transmisión is the subsidiary of CFE, which owns the entire National Transmission Network (Red Nacional de Transmisión) and is currently the sole provider of public transmission services in Mexico.

New Stock Exchange in Mexico: BIVA
We represented Central de Corretajes in filing a request for the incorporation and operation of a new stock exchange in Mexico (Bolsa Institucional de Valores). This is an important milestone for the Mexican financial markets.

SAE MXN 3.5 billion sale of sugar mills
We represented the Mexican Asset Administration & Sale Agency (Servicio de Administración y Enajenación de Bienes, or SAE) in the design and implementation of the sale procurement process for the sale of nine sugar mills, which represent 22.2 percent of the Mexican sugar production market. After two procurement processes, in the third (and last) public auction process, SAE awarded a contract for a total of MXN 3.4 billion (approximately US$190 million) for the sale of the two remaining sugar mills and received a price that was 144 percent higher than the initial reference price. The sale is one of the most important commercial transactions in SAE's history, and White & Case played a leading role in the vast range of corporate/M&A, procurement, regulatory and litigation issues raised in the process.