Contributors
Deal expands Womble Bond Dickinson’s cross-border capabilities and enhances its international energy expertise
International law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has agreed a strategic alliance with leading Brazilian law firm Schmidt, Valois, Miranda, Ferreira & Agel (Schmidt Valois) giving the business a footprint that covers three continents.
The deal sees the firms combine their deep resources and vast expertise to benefit clients and boost their international reach. The strategic alliance will have a particular focus on the energy sector where both firms share significant international experience and capabilities.
Paul Stewart, Managing Partner of Womble Bond Dickinson (UK), said:
“This is an exciting development for us in the UK and internationally. Investing in our energy sector offering and making more of our international reach are two key parts of our strategy. Few firms of our size in the UK can match our international network, with our colleagues in the US, strategic alliances in France and Germany, and our wider international reach through the Lex Mundi network. With market-leading credentials in energy and renewables projects both in Latin America and globally, Schmidt Valois will help us do even more for our clients.”
WBD has an impressive track record in the energy sector with high profile clients including Centrica, EDF Energy Renewables and National Grid. In the UK, the firm played a key role in the country’s first onshore wind farm project at Delabole and advised on the country's largest onshore wind farm project at Whitelee. WBD also supported a pioneering battery storage M&A transaction, advising RES on the sale of the Port of Tyne 35MW project to the Foresight Group.
Paulo Valois Pires, Co-Managing Partner of Schmidt Valois, said:
“We are all excited about our new collaboration, which is a great opportunity for clients in Brazil who wish to invest or are already investing abroad. This alliance also permits the integration of high-quality legal services in multijurisdictional operations involving Latin America."
Schmidt Valois was formed in 2007 and since then has worked on energy and renewables projects across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. The firm advised Vibra Energia on its acquisition of a majority stake in Targus Comercializadora de Energia Ltda, creating the largest power trader in Brazil, and advised Copel (CPLE6) on the sale of the Araucária Thermoelectic Power Plant to Âmbar Energia.
The alliance will formally come into effect on 1 April, 2025.
