Selene Espinosa

Partner

Practices

Industries

Financial Services | Energy & Natural Resources

Selene Espinosa

+52.55.3602.8029

Overview

Selene Espinosa is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Mexico City office, where she focuses her practice on Mexican corporate service and securities law. Ms. Espinosa has relevant experience on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), project finance, international joint ventures, cross-border transactions, infrastructure, mining and real estate matters. Ms. Espinosa has also acted as lead counsel for the negotiation of exploration, association, financing and joint venture agreements for mining projects in Mexico.

Ms. Espinosa represents lenders, corporate borrowers, project sponsors and developers in domestic and cross-border financing transactions. In addition, Ms. Espinosa has advised lenders and borrowers in debt restructurings, led due diligence proceedings for corporate acquisitions and credit agreements, and participated in international acquisitions of shares and assets. Additionally, she has advised clients in corporate governance, and foreign investment matters across a variety of industries.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Espinosa trained at General Electric in the commercial finance department, where she was involved in the implementation of credit agreements for GE as lender, and worked at two international law firms and a Mexico City law firm for several years.

Representative Experience

Represented Telefonica S.A. in the sale of its data centers located in Mexico and other Latin American countries in a deal worth 550 million euros and the related housing services agreement
Advised the acquirer company in the bid process for the 330 million euro acquisition of an international technology group of industries based in Canada as part of the global acquisition of equity interests
Advised a company leader in the pharmaceutical industry in the acquisition of a Mexican entity, a distributor of raw materials for the pharma, food, pet and dietary supplements industries
Advised a master food and beverage franchisor in Mexico in a strategic deal and master franchise alliance with the largest non-U.S. pizza delivery company in the world.
Advised a plastic packaging group in the US$320 million sale of its participation in the Mexican subsidiary, as part of a cross-border transaction governed by Dutch law
Advised a leading private equity fund, as investor/buyer, in implementing the corporate structure to invest in a group of Mexican and U.S. technology entities
Advised a U.S. company in its US$114 million acquisition of a global, Canada-based company that offers design, development, manufacturing and delivery of lighting and electronic products and full-service solutions to the automotive and commercial vehicle markets
Advised the second-largest mobile operator in Mexico on the restructuring, sale and lease of assets and shares of its five Mexican subsidiaries to different purchasers
Advised a French energy group in the US$3.2 billion sale of specialty chemical affiliate
Acted as lead counsel in the due diligence and the acquisition of a subsidiary company of a U.S. healthcare company and of a resin plant in Brazil
Represented a Colombian airline in the acquisition of a cargo airline

Advised an international technology group of industries based in Canada as borrower in the implementation and structuring of Mexican guarantees due to a credit granted by a Canadian bank to its holding company based in Canada for a US$305 million line of credit
Advised a lending bank in the restructuring of a US$310 million loan to a private entity for a gas project in Mexico and with the value added tax (VAT) loan agreement for the project
Advised a lending bank in a loan agreement in the amount of MXN$2 billion to a listed company for the prepayment of certain international notes and the company growth plans
Advised a Mexican infrastructure development bank in connection with its US$178 million loan agreement provided to a Mexican energy company for the financing of a public contract related to the transformation and construction of an energy project; and with the implementation and structure of the VAT loan agreement for the project
Advised a Mexican infrastructure development bank in connection with a loan to be granted to a Mexican group for a wind project
Advised foreign funds and banks acting as creditors in structuring packages for guarantees in securing credit agreements
Implemented financing structures for mining projects among Canadian mining companies that have a presence in Mexico

Representing the National Development Bank in Mexico (Bancomext) in the implementation of a financing structure for a mining project related to the exploitation of silver and gold in Sinaloa, Mexico
Led the negotiation of a joint venture (JV) agreement and formation of a JV company constituted by a Canadian mining company and Mexican mining conglomerate for the exploration of a mine located in Durango, Mexico
Represented an international mining fund in the financing of a mining tailing project in Chihuahua, Mexico
Negotiated a joint venture between two Canadian mining companies for the exploitation of silver mine in Mexico, with a committed investment of more than US$16 million

Advised an insurance company with respect to its underwriting process to determine how best to address the representations and warranties (R&W) policy on a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal whose target was a Mexican company
Advised a leading manufacturing company of pressure and temperature instrumentation gauges in the process of running its new plant in Querétaro, Mexico; assisted in incorporating a new company, negotiating its lease agreement for the new plant and obtaining a Maquiladora, Manufacturing and Export Services Industry (IMMEX) authorization and value added tax (VAT) certification for the imports of machinery, equipment and inputs as part of the manufacturing process
Advised an underwriter in an R&W insurance matter where the target company had significant operations in Mexico
Participated in a major infrastructure project for the Mexican government and drafted and negotiated public infrastructure and service agreements for public entities and governmental bodies
Advised the Mexican government in the negotiation and structuring of the US$130 million public agreement for the loading, unloading and transportation of heavy stone for the construction of runways
Advised a U.S. company on a renewable development project in Mexico that included the sale of a Mexican subsidiary to a U.S. company
Led the corporate restructuring of Mexican subsidiaries of a leading American group and negotiated with the creditor's counsel the terms of the restructure
Represented a multinational company in multiple land acquisitions and land leases throughout Mexico involving large retail outlets
Represented a multinational company on anticorruption compliance policy and procedures and its implementation in Latin America
Negotiated with the largest retail stores in Mexico on the introduction and marketing of extended warranty products in their stores provided by a Mexican subsidiary of an American company

Credentials

Education

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, LL.M.
Universidad Panamericana, J.D.

Bar Admissions/Licenses

Mexico

Memberships

Asociación Nacional de Abogados de Empresa (ANADE)
Mexican Bar Association
Abogadas MX

Honors & Awards

The Best Lawyers in Mexico, Banking and Finance Law, Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Project Finance and Development Practice, 2020-2025
Chambers Global – The World's Leading Lawyers for Business guide, Mexico: Corporate/M&A (Up & Coming), 2024, 2025
Chambers Latin America – Latin America's Leading Lawyers for Business guide, Mexico: Corporate/M&A, 2024, 2025
Highly regarded, M&A, IFLR1000, 2023, 2024
Holland & Knight Pro Bono All-Star, 2020
The Legal 500 Latin America, Banking and Finance, Real Estate, Projects and Infrastructure, 2019
The Legal 500 Latin America, Projects and Infrastructure, Next Generation Lawyers, 2017, 2018