Biography: Insolvency & Restructuring

Alejandro Sainz is the co-managing partner, chairman of the insolvency and restructurings practice group and co-chair of the mergers and acquisitions practice group of Cervantes Sainz, SC. He represents national and multinational clients in a broad range of transactional matters, providing legal advice in the areas of corporate, finance and commercial law, including reorganisations, restructurings and work-outs, bankruptcy and cross-border insolvency procedures (concursos), corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), foreign investment, joint ventures, and infrastructure, real estate, gaming and telecommunications transactions.

Mr Sainz was selected by Latin Lawyer as one of Mexico's top lawyers and by The International Who's Who of Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers 2010 as one of the world's pre-eminent insolvency and restructuring lawyers. Mr Sainz was also cited by Chambers Latin America: Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers 2010 as one of Mexico's premier insolvency and restructuring lawyers; Chambers said he 'has a solid grounding in M&A work and is active in some of the major restructurings underway in Mexico... he handles cross-border insolvencies both in and out of court, and is widely praised by sources as 'an astute commercial lawyer – he has an excellent knowledge of the Mexican legal system, and he really speaks his clients' language''.

The firm was awarded with the World Finance Legal Award 2010 in the category of Best Insolvency & Financial Restructurings Team in Mexico, and with the Corporate International Magazine Global Awards 2010 as the Insolvency Legal Advisory Firm of the Year in Mexico.

Mr Sainz is the author of multiple articles and publications in transactional, corporate and insolvency matters. Among others, he was selected by Latin Lawyer Reference to contribute on restructuring to the Mexico chapters for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

In the restructuring and insolvency arena, among other insolvency matters both domestic and cross-border, he represented: the ad-hoc committee of foreign-secured creditors in the US$800 million cross-border restructuring of the debt of Satmex; Grupo Iusacell in its US$650 million cross-border restructuring of its debt; the ad-hoc committee of bondholders in the cross-border insolvency procedures of Corporacion Durango and Comercial Mexicana; the ad-hoc committee of the noteholders in the restructuring process of Cementos Chihuahua; and the ad-hoc committee of creditors in the Mexican legal aspects of the US insolvency procedure of Tower Automotive. Among other restructuring and insolvency matters, Mr Sainz is currently representing: the ad-hoc committee of noteholders in the cross-border insolvency procedure of Satmex; Grupo Iusacell Celular, SA de CV, in the cross-border restructuring procedure of its new debt; an important creditors in the bankruptcy procedure of the Mexican airline Alma; and certain creditors in the cross-border insolvency procedures of Majapara, a Mexican foreign exchange broker, and Mexicana airline.

Prior to founding Cervantes Sainz, Mr Sainz was partner of Jáuregui, Navarrete y Nader, a senior associate of Santamarina y Steta and foreign associate of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in Boston, Massachusetts. He received a Licenciado en Derecho (JD equivalent) from the Panamerican University in 1993, where he has also undertaken a diploma programme in the North American Legal System (1993) and postgraduate study in tax law (2009). He has completed postgraduate courses in corporate, banking and finance law at the Escuela Libre de Derecho in Mexico (1995) and US law and business transactions at Harvard University (1996), and a diploma programme in negotiation at Harvard Business School (2004).

Mr Sainz is a member of the Mexican Bar Association, the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Iberoamerican Institute of Insolvency Matters. He is a professor of business law and commercial contracts at the Iberoamerican University and a regular speaker at international conferences and seminars on Mexican business legal issues, particularly on matters dealing with restructurings, insolvency procedures and foreign investment. He is also a certified mediator at the Instituto Mexicano de la Mediación and on the board of a prominent private financial group and several public and private corporations.

He speaks Spanish and English.