Aldo González
+52.55.3602.8040
Overview
Aldo González Melo is a senior counsel in Holland & Knight's Mexico City office. He practices in the areas of corporate, project, structured and public (sub-national) finance, as well as in the structuring of cross-border, international, infrastructure and energy transactions.
Mr. González Melo mainly represents financial institutions acting as lenders, arrangers, bookrunners and agents in all kind of secured and unsecured financial transactions, including term loans, revolving lines, bridge loans, syndicate financings, environmental, social and governance (ESG) loans and discounting (factoring) products. In addition, he represents borrowers and other credit parties acting as developers and sponsors in the development, structuring and banking stages of infrastructure projects, including renewable energy power systems, pipelines, public-private partnerships (P3), roads and highways, hotels and ESG water projects.
Mr. González Melo has experience advising national and international players in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) energy transactions (renewables, oil and gas), telecommunications and healthcare services (regulated substances management) sectors.
Based on his early career experience as a constitutional law and litigation attorney, Mr. González Melo complements his practice by frequently partnering with the firm's disputes resolution team to advise banks, ad hoc creditor groups, trustees and bondholders in bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings.
Representative Experience
- Represented Banco Santander in a US$210 million debt restructuring of a major hospitality group that involved debt prepayment and restructuring of a syndicated loan with asset-backed collateral and multiple alternative source of payment vehicles
- Represented a major private aircraft fund as borrower in a US$900 million cross-border refinancing deal structured by a primary U.S. banking subsidiary
- Represented Banco Santander and Banco Inbursa in a US$127 million club deal loan to a Spanish-based hospitality group with developments in the Mexican Caribbean Sea that involved debt prepayment and restructuring of a syndicated loan with asset-backed collateral
- Represented a large commercial bank and a federal development bank in a MX$2 billion syndicate bridge loan for the construction of a real estate development in Mexico City
- Advised a multinational bank in the restructuring and implementation of a cross-border supply chain financing program aimed at Mexico-based suppliers of automotive and software producers
- Represented Banco Santander in US$157 million syndicate loan to a subsidiary of the Royalton hospitality group, for the construction of a new hotel in Costa Mujeres, north of Quintana Roo, Mexico
- Represented a San Francisco-based environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) private fund in a structured financing in favor of a renewables startup company to provide liquidity for the origination, refinancing and sale of ESG-eligible portfolios of solar panel loans and leases
- Represented Banco Santander in MX$1.2 billion loan transactions in favor of a downstream oil and gas group: a syndicate corporate loan and a project finance deal to construct a gas storage plant
- Advised Premium Restaurant Brands on a US$53 million refinancing transaction in which Goldman Sachs Bank USA was a lender; the transaction involved multiple jurisdictions and a complex collateral package that required security documentation for all of the borrower's "subholding" companies and complex coordination among co-counsels
- Represented a financial subsidiary in a five-bank syndicate refinancing transaction, extending a term loan of MX$8.2 billion initially structured by Goldman Sachs
- Represented Goldman Sachs in the structuring of a US$30 million revolving credit facility in favor of a Mexican equipment financier; the cross-border transaction was structured to provide additional liquidity to the originator
- Represented Goldman Sachs in the structuring and implementation of an aggregate US$80 million collateral package to secure the obligations of a foreign fund under two derivative transactions (MXN-USD FX transactions)
- Represented Goldman Sachs as lender and sole lead arranger in a cross-border transaction comprising an asset-back bridge and term financing, and a syndicate of national and foreign banks, for the acquisition of the leasing business in Mexico of a global company by a major Latin American equity fund; the financing included two tranches, one in pesos and the other in U.S. dollars (USD); the USD tranche bridge financing was converted into a term financing through an asset-backed securitization with the issuance of 144A and Reg S asset-backed notes by the Mexican special purpose vehicle (SPV) holding USD-denominated assets; the peso tranche bridge financing was converted into a term financing through a loan with a syndicate of U.S. and Mexican banks, as well as a Mexico-based global insurance company
- Advised the North American Development Bank (NADB), acting through its affiliate, on two environmental, social and governance (ESG) loans to the Mexican State of Baja California valued at US$162 million (approximately MX$3 billion); the loan agreement was signed on Jan. 31, 2023; NADB made the first disbursement of funds from the ESG loans in March, 2023.
- Represented a full-service bank in a MX$600 million project finance transaction for the development and construction of a multimodal public transportation central in Mexico City
- Advised a full-service bank in the structuring of various public-private partnerships (P3) federal and state projects, including the construction of two federal highways, a full-service judiciary state building and municipal lighting systems and water treatment plants
- Advised a full-service bank in several public bidding procedures to award short-term unsecured loans, secured term loans, restructures and bond issuances by sub-sovereign Mexican states
- Advised a Texas-based sponsor solar project developer in the development and US$30 million project finance of a 16 megawatt (MW) solar park in Chihuahua, Mexico; the transaction was structured cross border with two senior loans made by the NADB and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC); Holland & Knight advised in both regulatory and financing stages
- Represented more than 14 bidders in Mexico's initial public auctions for the electric power market
- Advised a subsidiary of a California-based wind projects developer in the development and US$241 million project finance and sale of the first two stages of its 147 MW Tres Mesas windfarm
- Advised the NADB in the refinancing of a 54 MW windfarm located in the State of Tamaulipas
- Advised the NADB in the financing of a P3 project for the construction of a desalination plant in northern Mexico
- Advised a Mexican bank in the financing of various P3 public transportation projects in the States of Puebla and Mexico
- Advised American Tower Corporation in the US$500 million acquisition of a fiber optic spun-off subsidiary of KIO Networks, a Mexican telecommunications and information technology (IT) company
- Represented a compliance company in the sale of its Mexican environmental business to a Nuevo León-based group
- Represented a U.S.-based oil and gas company in the acquisition of a pipeline system in Mexico and the subsequent sale of the buying special purpose vehicle (SPV) in favor of a major European energy company
- Represented a greenfield developer of renewable energy projects in the sale of a solar park to a Spanish-based infrastructure fund
- Represented Goldman Sachs as lender and sole lead arranger in a cross-border transaction comprising an asset-back bridge and term financing, and a syndicate of national and foreign banks, for the acquisition of the leasing business in Mexico of a global company by a major Latin American equity fund
- Represented an American financial services holding company, as collateral agent for the creditors, in the debtor-in-possessor (DIP) financing process of a Mexican airline and the subsequent reorganization in the company’s exit facility
- Represented an American investment banking services holding company, acting as trustee agent of creditors and bondholders, in a number of bankruptcy proceedings (concurso mercantil) in Mexico
- Represented a non-metallic, foundry and refractory products manufacturer in the bankruptcy proceedings (concurso mercantil) in Mexico of a major steel company
- Represented a development bank in the constitutional challenge (acción de inconstitucionalidad) brought against a state decree approving sub-sovereign debt for a public-private partnerships (P3) project
- Served as a member of the constitutional appeals team that successfully challenged a nationwide conviction against a French citizen in Mexico; the constitutional case was argued before the Supreme Court of Mexico and is considered a landmark decision
Credentials
Education
- Columbia Law School, LL.M.
- Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), J.D.
Bar Admissions/Licenses
- Mexico
Honors & Awards
- The Best Lawyers in Mexico,Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Energy Law, Project Finance and Development Practice, 2021-2025
- The Legal 500 Latin America, Rising Star, Energy and Natural Resources, 2020-2025; Rising Star, Projects and Infrastructure, 2023-2025
- Rising Star, Banking, IFLR1000, 2023, 2024
Spoken Languages
- English
- Portuguese
- Spanish