Luis Bulcao Pinheiro

Linklaters' Hong Kong and New York offices and Pinheiro Neto Advogados in São Paulo have helped state-owned company China Merchants acquire the Brazilian port of Paranaguá in a 2.9 billion reais (US$925 million) deal.

Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr e Quiroga Advogados in São Paulo advised Paranaguá's selling shareholders, which included global private equity firm Advent international; Spanish port operators Galigrain and Martim TCB; and Brazilian concessionaire investors Pattac, Soifer and TUC.

The deal, which was signed on 4 September and awaits antitrust and regulatory approval, gives 90% of the shares of TCP, the company which operates the port, to the Chinese investor. Advent, Galgrain and Martim TCB are selling all their shares in the port, while Patac, Soifer and TUC will retain a 10% stake in the company.

Paranaguá port is located in the southern state of Paraná and has an annual capacity of 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units, making it the second largest port in Brazil. It wants to expand its capacity to 2.4 million units.

This is China Merchants' first investment in Latin America. China has lately diversified its investments in the region.

Counsel to China Merchants

Linklaters

Partner Kevin Cheung in Hong Kong, and associate Gabriel Silva in New York

Pinheiro Neto Advogados

Partners Henry Sztutman, Christianne Zarzur and Ricardo Levy, and associates Rodrigo Moreira, Marcos Garrido, Tiago Vieira Rocha, Renata Faria, Otavio Pereira de Carvalho and Renata Politanski in São Paulo

Counsel to Advent international, Galigrain, TCB, Pattac, Soifer and TUC

Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr e Quiroga Advogados

Partners Rodrigo Figueiredo Nascimento, Andrea Bazzo Lauletta, Renata Fonseca Zuccolo Giannella and Bruno Dario Werneck, and associates Rodrigo Arthur Egual de Carvalho, Bruna Bianchini Sato, Fabiana Rocha Pasmanik, Teresa Broggi Ciardullo, Tomás Machado de Oliveira and Mário Márcio Saadi Lima in São Paulo