Lawyer headcount 1,408
Partners 297
Revenue €349.4m (+3%)
Offices Spain: A Coruña, Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Las Palmas, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Palma de Mallorca, Pamplona, San Sebastián, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid, Vigo, Zaragoza. Portugal: Lisbon, Oporto. International: Beijing, Bogotá, Brussels, Casablanca, London, Lima, Mexico City, New York, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo, Shanghai, Warsaw
Key clients BBVA, Carrefour, Iberdrola, Santander, Telefónica
Managing partner Fernando Vives
Recent work highlights Advising Coca-Cola European Partners on its €16.9bn listing on multiple stock exchanges; advising Spanish hospital operator Quirónsalud during its €5.8bn takeover by German healthcare provider Fresenius; advising Global Infrastructure Partners on its €3.8bn purchase of 20% of Gas Natural from Repsol and Criteria Caixa.
Garrigues, the largest firm in Europe by lawyer headcount, has set about dominating the domestic and international arenas through a programme of rigorous expansion. The firm strengthened its grip on Latin American markets in particular, opening a new office in Chile in March 2016 and boosting revenues from the region by 81% since last year. The €18.6m procured from Latin America in 2016 accounted for roughly half of all international turnover, which increased by 20% over the year.
Managing partner Fernando Vives insists that the firm’s ‘first priority’ is to create a fully-integrated law firm in Latin America, with a 2017 target to generate €30m in revenue from the region. ‘It is obvious that in the long term Latin America is comprised of countries that will develop very well in the coming years.’
‘During the last ten years we have maintained the number one position in Spain. It is difficult to increase this position.’
Fernando Vives, Garrigues
The desire to look overseas for growth is almost a necessity according to Vives, who contends: ‘During the last ten years we have maintained the number one position in Spain. It is difficult to increase this position a lot. We are open to international areas such as Latin America to try to increase our revenues.’
In terms of practice areas, corporate is the key driver, accounting for 31% of revenue, with tax close behind on 30%. Dispute resolution is also an important feature of the firm, accounting for 13% of turnover.
The firm has been boosted by a string of lateral hires over the last year, including the addition of a five-partner M&A team from Peruvian firm Jorge Avendaño Abogados. Other laterals have seen partners arriving from PwC, Winston & Strawn and Chadbourne & Parke.
Garrigues has been involved in some significant disputes over the last year, notably acting on behalf of Banco Santander, World Duty Free Group and others as part of the so-called ‘financial goodwill’ state aid case. The dispute relates to a special tax scheme introduced in 2002 by the Spanish government that allowed companies to pay discounted corporate tax if they bought foreign bonds. After the European Commission ruled the scheme anti-competitive, multiple companies have come forward to make claims. The figures involved are unknown, but are substantial given the number of claimants.