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Garrigues - Taxand's team of three partners and 29 fee earners is divided between the firm's offices in Lisbon and Oporto. The firm offers a complete range of tax services to both Portuguese and international clients under department head Fernando Castro ... [more]

Garrigues - Taxand's team of three partners and 29 fee earners is divided between the firm's offices in Lisbon and Oporto. The firm offers a complete range of tax services to both Portuguese and international clients under department head Fernando Castro Silva, who is highly recommended by competitors for his ability in corporate tax. The firm has acted on behalf of major clients in Portugal including Portugal Telecom, Petróleos de Venezuela Europa and Iberdrola Group. Their work in advising Portugal Telecom on the $9.7 billion sale of its 50% stake in their Brazilian joint venture company Brasilcel to Spanish company Telefonica involved complex cross-border restructuring to ensure the sale obtained the most favourable tax treatment possible. The deal was one of the largest M & A deals in the world last year. Before Paolo Nuncio joined the government as secretary of state for tax in August 2011, he led the team responsible for the complex issues posed by Dutch company PDV Europa's disposal of their stake in German refinery company Ruhr Oel to Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft. This was the first instance of a company with its statutory seat outside Portugal benefitting from tax treatment normally applicable to Portuguese companies as a result of its being resident in Portugal for tax purposes. This involved close liaison with the tax authorities to obtain a binding ruling that may set a precedent for similar transactions in future. Such high level work means the firm is respected by competitors, though some comment that the firm is not as strong in Portugal as in Spain.

Ernesto Jiménez leads the tax practice at Garrigues - Taxand in a department with 96 partners and 501 more fee earners. This makes the firm by far and away the biggest in the Spanish market. Competitors recognise the firm's huge capacity for work in ... [more]

Ernesto Jiménez leads the tax practice at Garrigues - Taxand in a department with 96 partners and 501 more fee earners. This makes the firm by far and away the biggest in the Spanish market. Competitors recognise the firm's huge capacity for work in Spain and several describe it as a "tax factory" in a complimentary way. The firm's clients reflect Garrigues's reputation and include multinationals such as General Motors and Iberia and financial institutions such as Grupo BBVA and Banco Santander. Eduardo Abad is a well regarded adviser in more than one practice area, though especially so in capital markets and financial products. This year he advised a Spanish bank on cross-border debt and equity issues by its various subsidiaries. The international elements and the structure of the group required intricate planning to ensure they were effected as efficiently as possible. The firm also advised on the structure to be used in the merger of British Airways and Iberia. The structure had to accommodate and ensure compliance with cross-border and domestic tax issues. The firm also had to ensure that the tax losses of Iberia were retained in the hive down prior to executing the merger to ensure the new conglomerate, International Airlines Group, had their benefit. The new company was also the first listed company granted permission by the tax authorities to benefit from the holding company tax regime in Spain. Transfer pricing is another area where the firm's advisers are highly respected, with Ramón López de Haro singled out for his ability in that area.