Biography: Mergers and Acquisitions

José Víctor Torres is a member of González Calvillo's corporate finance practice group. Mr Torres is a seasoned financial lawyer with ample experience in complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and founded the firm's finance and banking practice groups. With well over twenty years of experience, he has been consistently ranked as a foremost practitioner in his fields of expertise by Chambers & Partners, IFLR Expert Guides, Who's Who Legal and Latin Lawyer.

Mr Torres has been selected as counsel in numerous cross-border transactions, financings and acquisitions during his career. Mr Torres is a member of the board of directors of several companies. He has been designated as head counsel in numerous cross-border transactions, financings and acquisitions and his practice includes public offerings (debt and equity instruments), M&A, telecommunication and large-scale real estate projects, joint ventures and strategic alliances.

Mr Torres has also been sought to advise in multimillion workouts. He has actively participated in numerous transnational financings that involve project sponsorships, lending, syndicated facilities and financial leases, and has been consulted to render expert opinions required for public offerings in local and foreign capital markets. A substantial portion of the transactions in which Mr Torres has participated has had an antitrust analysis or filing component due to the underlying amounts or by nature of the relevant markets involved.

Mr Torres has represented Citibank and Barclays Capital in relation with a joint venture by INEOS and BASF on their styrenic businesses and assets, including a revolving credit facility and a high-yield bond issuance; represented Pardus Capital Management and a group of other leading private equity investors, in the corporate reorganisation and spin-off of a certain business of Delphi in México, arising from the approximately US$2.55 billion worldwide Chapter 11 reorganisation of Delphi Corporation; acted as external counsel to PEMEX in the issuance of over US$4 billion in public debt instruments; external securities counsel to Nissan-Renault Finance Mexico in the issuance and placement of over US$1.5 billion in certificados bursátiles. Counsel and the launching and renewal of its US$1 billion debt securities programme and the various takedowns under such programme; acted as lead counsel for Qualcomm Incorporated with respect to the implementation of a US$1.4 billion Senior Secured Vendor Financing Facility to Pegaso Telecomunicaciones (currently Telefónica Movistar); acted as lead counsel to GICSA, one of Mexico's foremost real estate developer, in a US$1.2 billion financing provided by General Electric Real Estate Mexico; represented Macquarie Capital in its business establishment process in Mexico; advised Apollo Investment Corporation in connection with a US$86 million senior secured note purchase financing to Varel International Industries; advised GICSA in a US$180 million secured construction and term loan facility granted by Metlife for the purchase of HSBC's Mexican office and retail portfolio; represented Votorantim Metais in its participation of a private offer of a major steel industrial plant in Mexico for an amount of approximately US$990 million; and counsel to Wells Fargo Capital Finance LLC, and other financial institutions, in the US$500 million syndicated credit agreement and collateral package granted to Ravago Holdings America, Inc, and its Canadian and Mexican subsidiaries.

Mr Torres holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Texas at Austin and obtained a JD degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana in 1993. He was also an associate with Dewey & Leboeuf LLP (formerly Dewey Ballantine LLP) from 1997 to 1999.

Mr Torres was selected by Time Warner's business weekly Expansión as one of Mexico's top-five business lawyers, based upon research performed by Chambers & Partners.