Profile
Juan Manuel González Bernal is co-chair of the Global Infrastructure Practice Group at GT with over 30 years of experience handling complex transactions representing sponsors, developers, equity and debt funds and lenders across all sectors of infrastructure and energy, including toll roads, airports, transportation, telecommunications, water, oil & gas, utilities and social infrastructure.
Juan Manuel is a founding member and co-managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Mexico City office and leads an award-winning Mexico team dedicated to matters related to infrastructure, energy, and project development, with deep capabilities in project finance, M&A, securities, regulatory, and transactional matters, as well as in alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including arbitration, administrative, civil, and commercial domestic litigation.
Juan Manuel regularly advises food, beverage & agribusiness clients in a wide range of transactions related to the agricultural sector to develop and foster joint ventures, providing legal services such as financing and M&A to some of the most sophisticated food companies in Mexico and North America.
Concentrations
- Global Energy and Infrastructure
- Restructuring & Bankruptcy
- Corporate
- Financial Regulatory and Compliance
- Restaurant Industry
- Agribusiness
Capabilities
Experience
- Representation of Concesionaria Autopistas del Sureste (CAS) and the sponsors Ainda (through their CkD fund) and Aldesa Mexico in the refinancing of the debt securities (certificados bursátiles) issued and listed in the Mexican Stock Exchange through a bridge to bond structure, under which CAS will enter into a bank loan that will be refinanced in a short term, through the issuance of new debt securities listed in the Mexican Stock Exchange using a shelf registration program.
- Representation of Altan Redes in the modification of a PPP contract with the federal government and for the design and execution of the feasibility plan for the Red Compartida project.
- Representation of Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), financial advisor to the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes), in the structuring and coordination of the international public bid to build, operate, and update the mobile broadband services known as “Shared Network” for 20 years. Said broadband will operate at 90 megahertz over the spectrum of a 700 Mhz band, under the legal structure of a PPP (Asociación Público-Privada). Services also included providing legal advice in the planning and design of the financing by the development bank, and advising in antitrust matters, among others. The investment for this project during the following 10 years is estimated to be US$7.5 billion.
- Representation of Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México in the negotiation, structuring, and execution of an early repayment of MXN$34 billion worth of equity trust certificates.
- Representation of Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México in the cash tender offer and consent solicitations launched to investors in the MEXCAT (Mexico City Airport Trust) to address contractual rights of the different parties in the construction of an additional airport in Mexico City. The cash tender offer was capped at US$1.8 billion.
- Representation of Red Carreteras de Occidente (RCO), one of the leading operators of toll roads in Mexico, for more than 15 years since its inception throughout funding transactions, including issuance of the certifiicados burstiles in the BMV (CEBUR), 144A, first CKD in Mexico, as well as in its M&A transactions. Mr. Gonzalez sits on the company’s board of directors.
- Representation of Concesionaria Autopistas del Sureste (CAS) and the sponsors Ainda (through their CkD fund) and Aldesa Mexico in the refinancing of the debt securities (certificados bursátiles) issued and listed in the Mexican Stock Exchange through a bridge to bond structure, under which CAS will enter into a bank loan that will be refinanced in a short term, through the issuance of new debt securities listed in the Mexican Stock Exchange using a shelf registration program.
- Representation of CKD IM (CKD Infraestructura México) in the renegotiation of eight asset management agreements (AMA) related to the operation of wind and solar power-generation plants located in various states of the Mexican Republic, with the purpose of assigning the services to be provided by the generators and the asset manager for the operation of such plants.
- Representation of Banco Inbursa in a MXN$12.5 billion (US$600 million approx.) refinancing of the loan granted in connection to two prisons owned by Banco Inbursa. Greenberg Traurig is representing the client in four of the seven prison projects.
- Representation of FinSalud in the structuring and negotiation of diverse agreements with the University Tec de Monterrey and Siemens for the financing, development, construction, operation and maintenance of a chain of deambulatory health care facilities under the brand Tec de Monterrey.
- Representation of Grupo GIA, in the sale to a CERPI fund listed in the Mexican Stock Exchange of up to 50% of the shares of capital stock of a subsidiary of GIA who was awarded the concession agreement for the design, construction and operation of the Nuevo Hospital del Salvador y el Instituto Nacional de Geriatría en Santiago de Chile; and 50% of the subordinated shareholders’ loans granted by Mexican Developer to the Concessionaire for the construction of the project. This social infrastructure project is part of the Chilean Hospital Investment Plan.
- Part of the Mexican negotiating team for the North American Free Trade Agreement participating in the chapter relating to investment and financial services.
- Banco BTG Pactual in all matters related to the licensing, incorporation, and commencement of operations of a Mexican broker-dealer subsidiary, the first of Brazilian capital to be incorporated in Mexico.
- Representation of GEAT in the negotiation and implementation of an investment trust to whose assets important companies in the agribusiness sector will contribute resources, to be used for the construction, development, and operation of an agro-logistic park in the municipality of Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.
- Representation of BBVA in the current negotiations and potential granting of a loan for a total amount of approximately MXN$1 billion in favor of Aguas Tratadas de El Ahogado, S.A. de C.V., for the construction of works related to the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant “El Ahogado,” which will have a capacity of 1,000 liters per second, under a certain PPP agreement that such developer entered into with the Comisión Estatal de Agua of the State of Jalisco.
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, Latin America Corporate Counsel Association, LACCA Approved, 2021-2022
- Listed, Chambers Latin America, Banking & Finance - Mexico; Projects - Mexico, 2013-2025
- Listed, The Legal 500 Latin America Guide, Latin America: Mexico, 2021-2025
- Leading Lawyers - Capital Markets, 2021; Projects and Infrastructure, 2021-2025
- Capital Markets, 2022-2025
- Energy and Natural Resources, 2022-2024
- Banking & Finance, 2021-2025
- Corporate & M&A, 2021
- Projects and Infrastructure, 2021-2025
- Listed, Latin Lawyer, “Latin Lawyer 250 - Practice Recognition: Banking & Finance; Project Finance & Infrastructure,’ 2020-2025
- Listed, Best Lawyers, “Best Lawyers in Mexico™,” 2019-2025
- “Lawyer of the Year,” Public Procurement Law, 2024
- Project Finance and Development Practice, 2019, 2021-2025
- Banking and Finance Law; Public Procurement Law, 2022-2025
- Capital Markets Law, 2023-2025
- Listed, IFLR 1000 Mexico, 2017 and 2019-2024
- “Highly Regarded,” Capital Markets, Banking, Project Finance, 2019-2024
- “Leading Lawyer,” Capital Markets, Banking, Project Finance, 2017
- Listed, Chambers Global
- Projects (Mexico), 2012-2024
- Banking & Finance (Mexico), 2012-2024
- Member, Winning Team, IJGlobal Americas’ Awards, “Latin American Project Bond Deal of the Year,” 2014
Credentials
Education
- LL.M., Harvard Law School, 1995
- Law Degree, Escuela Libre de Derecho, Mexico City, Mexico, 1992
Admissions
- Mexico
- New York
Languages
- Spanish, Native
- English, Fluent