Profile
Victor Manuel Frías focuses his practice on the representation of national and foreign companies doing business in Mexico. He has been recognized as one of Mexico’s leading lawyers in corporate and commercial law, primarily in mergers and acquisitions, and is currently co-coordinator of this practice for the Mexico City office.
Victor Manuel is an experienced attorney in corporate matters, drafting and negotiation of contracts, and regulatory issues of various kinds. In 2017, he closed the largest acquisition in Mexico for over $2.3 billion. As part of his career, he has represented buyers and sellers in a large number of acquisitions and joint venture projects, as well as advised clients on a wide range of corporate matters, including corporate governance and regulatory compliance. Mr. Frías has had significant transactional involvement in numerous industries, including health care, technology, retail, food and agriculture.
Victor Manuel is also co-coordinator of GT Mexico City’s antitrust practice and has been recognized for years as one of the most important lawyers in Mexico in this area. For almost 30 years he has represented clients in numerous investigations and merger notifications. Additionally, he has participated in numerous internal investigations on anti-corruption, antitrust, and data privacy issues, among others, and is co-coordinator of GT Mexico City’s compliance and regulatory affairs practice. Victor Manuel has been a university-level contracts professor for over 15 years.
As part of his international experience, he worked as a foreign associate in Washington, D.C., at one of the most important firms in competition matters in the world.
Victor Manuel is a founding partner and leader of the Pro bono practice in the Mexico City office.
Capabilities
Experience
- Advised Mexican and foreign companies in several cartel and vertical restraints and merger control processes, and has published articles in this field.°
- Represented one of the main hermetic compressors manufacturers in the investigation triggered by the Competition Commission into that market, including appeals before the newly created Federal specialized Circuit Courts in telecommunications and competition matters having to do with the interaction between the 1992 Competition Law and the 2013 amendment to the Mexican Constitution.°
- Since the enactment of the 1992 Competition Law, has notified national and international mergers and concentrations before the Competition Commission, and has negotiated conditions to facilitate the approval of transactions resulting in high concentration indexes in different markets.°
- Requested the triggering of investigations into different markets by the Competition Commission due to unjustified vertical restraints or cartel activities and represented clients in ex-officio investigations triggered by the Commission into the medicine, cement, travelling services, CRTs, ODDs, LCDs, among other markets.°
- Regularly advised international companies on commercial and marketing activities to facilitate compliance with competition and anti-unfair competition regulations.°
- Representation of investment funds in their acquisition of Mexican companies and the structuring of exit strategies, and, in coordination with the firm’s litigation group, has also recovered investments through Mexican Courts.°
°The above representations were handled by Mr. Frías Garcés prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, S.C.
- Professor, Universidad Iberoamericana, Contracts and Corporations, 2002-2015
- In conjunction with the Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH) or the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, Greenberg Traurig’s Mexico City pro bono team represented a Salvadorian family seeking refugee status in a litigation against the procedural decision issued by the Comisión Mexicana de Ayuda a Refugiados (COMAR) or the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid. The procedural decision indefinitely suspended interview applications for refugee status and the issuance of resolutions, which are essential phases in the Procedimiento de Reconocimiento de la Condición de Refugiado (PRCR) or the Procedure for the Recognition of Refugee Status. The judge ruled in the family’s favor and found the contested procedural decision unconstitutional for leaving asylum seekers and detained individuals in a state of legal uncertainty in Mexico.
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, Thomson Reuters, “Stand-Out Lawyers,” 2023
- Listed, Chambers Latin America, “Leading Individual in Competition/Antitrust Matters in Mexico,” 2011-2025
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in Mexico™, 2021-2025
- Listed, The Legal 500 Latin America Guide, 2021-2025
- Leading Lawyers – Latin America: Mexico – Competition and Antitrust, 2021-2025
- Latin America: Mexico – Corporate & M&A, 2021, 2023-2025
- Latin America: Mexico – Compliance and Data Privacy, 2024-2025
- Listed, Latin Lawyer, “Latin Lawyer 250 - Practice Recognition: Antitrust & Competition; Corporate and M&A,” 2020-2025
- Listed, Who’s Who Legal, “Leading Telecommunications and Regulation in Mexico,” 2015
Credentials
- Law Degree, Escuela Libre de Derecho, Mexico City, D.F., Mexico
- Postgraduate degree, Tax, Escuela Libre de Derecho, Mexico City, D.F., Mexico
- LL.M., University of Chicago Law School
- Mexico
- Spanish, Native
- English, Fluent