Gabriel Ruiz
Gabriel Ruiz
+52.81.8215.7724

Overview

Gabriel Ruiz Rocha is a business attorney and the executive partner of Holland & Knight's Monterrey office.

Mr. Ruiz advises domestic and international corporations on complex corporate, energy, real estate, cross-border and financing matters, including the corporate and operational design for the development of oil, gas and energy projects. He also represents national and multinational companies before governmental bodies and regulatory agencies in Mexico. He provides legal advice related to energy, industrial and real estate projects, including company planning and formation, specialized contracts, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures, due diligence, business structuring, divestitures, sales, spinoffs, dissolution, company liquidation, real estate transactions, financial operations and international tax planning.

Representative Experience

  • Represented a consortium led by a public U.S. company in the first unitization process in Mexico's history
  • Represented an independent U.S. oil and gas company in the construction and installation of all offshore producing facilities worth approximately $250 million
  • Represented a major public Chinese company in its Mexico block farmout transactions with major Asian and European oil and gas companies
  • Represented a major U.S.-based master contractor in an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) matter involving the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mexico
  • Represented a major Australian company in the award and execution of the Trion block deepwater license agreement in association with Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the first-ever farmout with Pemex in Mexico's history
  • Lead counsel in the representation of multiple oil and gas operators and investors in the Round 1 tenders carried out by the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) looking to award exploration and extraction contracts in offshore and onshore areas in Mexico
  • Lead counsel in the representation of an independent U.S. oil and gas company in its successful participation, together with a Mexican conglomerate, in the Offshore Extraction Round 1.2 tender carried out by the CNH, where a production sharing agreement for Block 4 was awarded
  • Lead counsel in the representation of a major public Chinese company in its successful participation in the Deepwater Round 1.4 tender carried out by the CNH, where license agreements for Blocks 1 and 4 were awarded
  • Lead counsel in the representation of an independent Mexican company in its successful participation in the Onshore Round 1.3 tender carried out by the CNH, where a license agreement for Block 20 was awarded
  • Lead counsel in the representation of a major public Spanish company in its successful participation in the Offshore Round 3.2 (Pemex farmout) tender carried out by the CNH, where production sharing agreements for Blocks 16, 17 and 18 were awarded
  • Lead counsel in the representation of multiple companies in the third international public bid round to produce hydrocarbons in the mature fields of Chicontepec, Mexico called by Pemex, including the winning company for the Humapa block
  • Lead counsel in the representation of multiple companies in the first and second international public bid rounds to produce hydrocarbons in the mature fields of southern and northern Mexico called by Pemex, including the winning consortium for the San Andrés and Tierra Blanca blocks
  • Lead counsel representing an energy industry leader in a 130 km natural gas pipeline project before the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) in Mexico
  • Lead counsel representing a major Argentine gas transportation company in the evaluation, planning and implementation of natural gas pipeline projects in Mexico
  • Lead counsel representing oil and gas industry leaders in the planning, development, execution and operation of four Multiple Service Contracts entered into with Pemex for the development of nonassociated gas fields in the Burgos Basin, Mexico
  • Supporting counsel in the representation of the CFE in the planning and structuring of the Manzanillo, Mexico LNG project
  • Lead counsel representing an energy industry leader in the evaluation, planning, and negotiation of power producing and sale of energy projects with the CFE in Mexico

  • Represented an independent U.S. oil and gas company in one of the first reserve-based lending transactions in Mexico's history with major French and Spanish financing entities for $150 million
  • Lead counsel in the representation of a major Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) contractor in a $200 million debt restructuring collection rights backed loan from Banco Nacional de Obras y Servicios Públicos S.N.C. (BANOBRAS)
  • Lead and supporting counsel in the representation of the government of the State of Nuevo León in all of its securitizations, debt placements and structured finance projects since 2003 totaling approximately $1.5 billion
  • Supporting counsel in the representation of a major Mexican commercial real estate company in a $45 million securitization

  • Represented an independent U.S. oil and gas company in the negotiation and execution of a share purchase agreement with a major Russian company for $500 million
  • Lead counsel representing an international consortium in the acquisition of a Mexican natural gas well testing service company
  • Supporting counsel in the representation of a major Mexican private investment fund in the acquisition of the leading molded-pulp carton manufacturing companies in Mexico
  • Lead counsel representing a leading software company in Mexico in the planning, structuring and implementation of its electronic factoring operations
  • Supporting counsel in the representation of an international carbon mining company in the acquisition of multiple carbon mining concessions in northern Mexico
  • Supporting counsel in the representation of the largest stem cell processing company in Mexico

Credentials

Education
  • The University of Texas School of Law, LL.M.
  • Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, LL.B.
Memberships
  • Barra Mexicana de Abogados
  • Texas Exes, Monterrey Chapter, President, 2008-2010
Honors & Awards
  • The Best Lawyers in Mexico, Corporate and M&A, 2013-2022; Energy, Oil & Gas, 2013-2025; Project Finance and Development, 2023-2025
  • The Legal 500 Latin America, Leading Lawyer, Energy and Natural Resources, 2021-2025
  • Notable Practitioner, Project Development, IFLR1000, 2023, 2024
  • The Legal 500 USA, Recommended Attorney Energy Transactions: Oil and Gas, 2022
  • Who's Who Legal: Mexico, Energy, 2015-2018, 2021-2024; Energy - Oil & Gas, 2021, 2022, 2024
  • The Legal 500 Latin America, Recommended Attorney, Energy and Natural Resources, 2019
  • ICFM Leading Lawyers 500, InterContinental Finance magazine, 2013
  • The International Who's Who of Oil & Gas Lawyers, 2011-2012

Publications

Speaking Engagements

Cracking the Code: Essential Insights for Nearshoring in Mexico

Mexico Nearshoring Summit / November 29, 2023
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