Luis A. Nicolau Gutiérrez
Practice Areas
Sectors
Languages
- English
- Spanish
Luis A. Nicolau joined the firm in 1990 and has been a partner since 1990.
He has a distinguished track record in mergers and acquisitions, advising companies and private equity funds on high-profile public and private transactions in Mexico. He also has extensive experience in capital markets, representing underwriters and issuers in domestic and international debt and equity offerings. In the financial sector, Luis has represented various international financial institutions in establishing their operations in Mexico, as well as several Fintech companies on regulatory matters and the procurement of the required authorizations.
Luis gained international experience as a foreign associate at Shearman & Stearling in New York and at Jhonson & Gibbs in Dallas.
He currently maintains several board memberships, including at Grupo Posadas, Coca-Cola FEMSA, GCC, Cuervo, Grupo Coppel, Morgan Stanley Mexico, Gentera, and serves on the investment committee of Promotora Social México. He is the former President of Fullbright Mexico’s Governing Body; former member of the board of directors of Vitro, Grupo Modelo, Papalote Museo del Niño, Santander México, JPMorgan México and Credit Suisse Mexico; former member of the board of directors of the Indian Mountain School; and former member of the supervisory board of the Mexican Stock Exchange.
Relevant Experience
- Represented BBVA, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Natixis, as underwriters, in connection with the offering by the United Mexican States of its €2,000 million 4.4899% Global Notes due 2032.
- Represented Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta, in its initial public offering of 14,375,000 American Depositary Shares (ADSs) in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), representing 143,750,000 shares of its common stock, at a price of USD$31.00 per ADS, raising gross proceeds of approximately USD$445 million.
- Represented Fomento Económico Mexicano (FEMSA), in connection with the partial divestment of its stake in Heineken in its offering of EUR€500 million of its 2.625% Senior Unsecured Exchangeable Bonds due 2026, exchangeable for up to 5,228,758 shares of Heineken.
- Represented Barclays, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho, BBVA, Santander, Scotia Capital and SMBC Nikko, in connection with the offering and sale by Petróleos Mexicanos of its USD$2,000 million 10.000% Notes due 2033.
- Represented Fondo Nacional de Infraestructura (FONADIN), in the issuance of debt bonds (certificados bursátiles fiduciarios) guaranteed by the Mexican federal government, pursuant to a structure of interconnected vessels identified as "FONADIN 23U", "FONADIN 23-2U" and "FONADIN 22-U", for a total amount of 1,361,776,500 UDIs (Investment Units), equivalent to MXN$10,777 million.
- Represented the shareholders of La Madrileña, a producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages, in the sale of 100% of its shares to Bepensa, a Mexican conglomerate.
- Represented Beat, in the sale of its Mexican assets to VEMO and the sale of the shares of its capital in Colombia and Chile. Documents for such jurisdictions are governed by the laws of Mexico.
- Represented the individuals and entities acting as majority shareholders of SixSigma Networks México (KIO) and KIO, in the negotiation, drafting and sale of 100% of the shares of KIO and its subsidiaries, to I Squared Capital.
- Represented Sanfer Farma, in the investment and subscription of 310,984,900 shares representing 80% of the capital stock of Probiomed, a Mexican biopharmaceutical company engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceutical health products.
- Represented Barclays Bank, Banorte, SMBC and Deutsche Bank, in a USD$500 million senior financing to PMI Services North America, with Pemex and other subsidiary guarantors, to provide PMI with funds to, among others, partially fund the purchase price of Deer Park.
- Represented Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta, in a USD$200 million unsecured sustainability-linked revolving financing from Scotiabank, Bancomext, BBVA, Sabadell, and Citibanamex, to be used for general corporate purposes of Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta and its subsidiaries.
- Represented Banorte, Banobras and SMBC, in a financing to Autopista Mante Tula, for the development and construction of the "Mante-Ocampo-Tula" toll road, with an extension of 100 km, in Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Awards and Recognitions
- “Top Ranked”, Chambers Latam, Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Mergers and Acquisitions, 2026.
- “Top Ranked”, Chambers Global, Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Mergers and Acquisitions, 2025.
- "Hall of Fame", Legal 500, Capital Markets, Mergers and Acquisitions, 2025.
- "Leading Partner: Fintech", Legal 500, Banking and Finance, 2025.
- "Market Leader", IFLR1000, Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Mergers and Acquisitions, 2025.
- "Thought Leader", LACCA, Banking and Finance, 2025.
Education
- Master of Laws (LL.M), Columbia University, Fulbright Scholar, New York, 1988.
- Lawyer, Escuela Libre de Derecho, Mexico City, 1985.