César Ignacio Ochoa-Reyes

– PARTNER –

BIO

César Ochoa has more than 30 years of experience counseling domestic and foreign companies doing business in México, helping them with issues involving foreign investment, international trade, corporate law, real estate, labor law, complex negotiations and mediation.

César Ochoa cofounded EGAO, one of the predecessor firms of EC Legal Rubio Villegas in 1992. He acted as Managing Partner of the Firm from 1999 to 2013, and he is currently the head of its Mergers and Acquisitions Department. He routinely represents clients in complex trans-border transactions and negotiations including M&A transactions, maquiladoras, joint ventures, contracts, international trade, corporate law, tax and real estate matters.

EDUCATION

• Law Degree, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey-Campus Chihuahua.
• Master of Laws, Harvard Law School-Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• Mediation Training required to mediate court-referred disputes, University of Texas at Austin School of
  Law.

RELEVANT MATTERS

• Represented TE Connectivity (“TE”) as lead Mexican counsel on the sale TE’s broadband-networks business to CommScope. This was a $3 Billion US Dollar project comprising more than 50 jurisdictions and Mexico was one of the most important countries involved. César Ochoa leads the firm’s M&E team to work with Allen & Overy (head global counsel) and PwC (global tax advisors) to design and implement all aspects of this transaction in Mexico, including corporate, customs, regulatory, labor, real estate and contract matters. This transaction encompassed four large manufacturing plants operating under the IMMEX program and several thousand employees in three cities in Mexico.
• At the request of Allen & Overy, represented the Carlyle Group to address all Mexican law aspects of its acquisition of the ‘Veritas’ information management business of Symantec Corporation. César Ochoa Allen & Overy’s attorneys (Carlyle’s counsel on outside-US matters) to implement the legal structure required to reach operational separation and the acquisition of Symantec’s Veritas unit, addressing all issues of corporate, real estate, employment and contracts law. This was a $8 Billion U.S. Dollars transaction.
• Worked with Winston & Strawn to assist Standard Motor Products, Inc. in its $71 million US Dollars acquisition of General Cable Corporation’s automotive ignition wire business in the United States and in Mexico. César Ochoa worked with Winston’s attorneys as co-counsel to design and implement the legal structure required to sell GCC’s manufacturing operations located in Mexico.
• Work with Baker & Hostetler’s attorneys to help one of their US clients assess. Purchase and take control of the operations of a target company that had significant operations in Mexico under a Shelter arrangement.
• At the request of Winston & Strawn, worked as co-counsel to help Industrial Opportunity Partners (“IOP”), an operations-focused private equity firm based in Evanston, Ill., acquire facilities of machining supplier General Products Corporation (“GPC”). IOP’s platform company AAA Sales & Engineering, Inc. (“AAASE”) acquired substantially all the business, operations and assets of GPC’s Angola, Indiana facility as well as the stock of its subsidiary in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
• César Ochoa collaborated with Winston & Strawn’s partners to help IOP assess the viability of GPC’s Mexican operations, since GPC itself was in bankruptcy in the United States. Mr. Ochoa lead EC Legal’s team to work with Winston and IOP to design a plan to acquire and integrate GPC’s operations into AASE’s international supply framework, optimizing its tax, customs, labor and contract structure.
• Work with Allen & Overy to help Emerson purchase the Valves & Controls business of Pentair. César Ochoa headed EC Legal’s M&A team to address all the Mexican law implications of transferring the Mexican operations involved in this transaction. This included the pre-closing disentanglement of Seller’s Mexican operations and all corporate, customs, regulatory, labor, real estate and contract matters needed to implement the Mexico portion of this transaction. This is a $3.15 billion US Dollar acquisition.
• Acted as co-counsel for Mexican issues with Winston & Strawn to help UL, a global safety science leader, acquire AWS Truepower, a leading energy engineering services and advisory firm. César Ochoa collaborated with Winston’s attorneys identify and address all the tasks required under Mexican law for UL to purchase and take control of the local operations of AWS Truepower and leading EC Legal’s team was responsible for all aspects of this transaction in Mexico, including due diligence, corporate, labour, real estate and contract matters.

RECOGNITIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

• Member of the U.S.-Mexico Bar Association where he was the Co-Chairman of the Foreign Investment Committee (1999-2000).
• Member of the American Bar Association and a member of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution International Committee where he served as Co-Chairman of the ABA NAFTA ADR Sub-committee.
• Chairman of the Board (1998-1999) and Secretary (1997-1998) of the El Paso-Juárez World Trade Center.
• Member of the Asociación Nacional de Abogados de Empresa, Sección Chihuahua, President from 1994 to 1997.
• Head outside counsel for the Dioceses de Ciudad Juárez on a pro bono basis since 1992.
• Co-Founder Deutéra, an organization comprised of prominent businesspersons and professionals, to address the crime problems of Ciudad Juárez, which is successfully implementing programs that engage the community in the search for public safety solutions.
• Since 2009 he is also a member of the Mesa de Ciudad Juárez, the public-private board created by the Mexican Federal government to design and oversee its efforts to restore public order in the city. High impact crime rates in Ciudad Juárez dropped an average of 90% from January 2010 to February 2013.
• First Mexican attorney to be designated as a Credentialed Mediator by Texas Mediator Credentialing Association.