Jose Roberto Martins

Professional Experience

José Roberto Martins is partner since 2001. He headed Ablfs McKfnzif’s energy, mining and infrastructure practice group for over 10 years. Mr. Martins is a project, M&A, and transactional lawyer advising project developers, sponsors, investors, equipment and service providers in chemicals and petrochemicals, infrastructure, energy, mining, and infrastructure projects. Its practice includes contractual law (specific contracts related to projects such as EPCs, O&Ms, long-term project contracts including take-or-pay port service agreements, supply agreements, power purchase agreements), corporate law (share purchase and sale agreements, investment agreements, shareholders’ agreements, joint ventures and associations, consortia), and administrative law (public and private tenders).

Awards and rankings

José has been recognized by specialized publications, such as Chambers & Partners, Latin Lawyer, Who’s Who Legal, Lacca Approved, Thought Leaders and Análise Advocacia, as a leading lawyer in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources sectors in Brazil. Recently, Mr. Martins was awarded Latin America’s “Lawyer of the Year –  Infrastructure in 2023, and led the team who was awarded “Law Firm of the Year Energy M&A” in 2023, by Latin American Lawyer magazine.

Academic Background

José graduated from Universidade de São Paulo with a bachelor in Law and also holds a master’s degree in law (LLM) from the University of Chicago.

Activities outside the office

Licensed by the Brazilian Bar Association and the New York Bar Association.

Mr. Martins frequently lectures abroad and in Brazil on business opportunities and legal aspects in the Energy and Infrastructure sectors.

• 2019-2024 – Guest Speaker in Brazil, New York, and Beijing in events sponsored by GRI Infra Club, together with with CEOs and government officials regarding infrastructure and energy matters;
• 2023 – Chair of first edition of Latin Lawyers’ “Renewable Energy in Latin America” event, held in Cartagena, Colombia;
• 2017 – Guest Speaker, Business Law Forum in Sao Paulo (Blue Ocean);
• 2017 – Guest Speaker, III World Trade Center Energy Forum;
• 2017 – Leading Speaker Latin America Infrastructure Summit GRI, New York;
• 2015 – Leading Speaker, I Infrastructure Forum in Madrid, Spain;
• 2015 – Leading Speaker, Latin America Energy, Mining and Infrastructure Forum, Tokyo, Japan;
• 2015 – Speaker, Latin America Energy, Mining and Infrastructure Forum, Beijing, China;
• 2012 – Leading Speaker, Tokyo Major Projects Forum, Tokyo, Japan
• 2011 – Guest Speaker, “US Brazil Business Forum” organized by the Brazilian Consulate and Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce in Chicago;
• 2011 – Speaker, “Brazil M&A and Private Equity Forum” organized in Sao Paulo by The MergerMarket Group;
• 2011 – Chairman of panel on Renewable Energy organized in Rio de Janeiro by Informa Group Latin America.

Publications

• Co-author of the article on Brazilian Electricity Market and Renewable Energy published by Lexology – Getting the Deal Through in the editions of 2022, 2023 and 2024;
• Article “Necessity is the mother of change”, published by International Financial Law Review in 2015;
• Article “Brazil’s Navigating Fair Wind Power” published by Infrastructure Journal in 2011;
• Articles on the regulation of the Brazilian gas sector for the International Comparative Legal Guide between 2006 and 2009.

Representative clients, cases or matters

• Advised large US cooperative in the creation of a joint venture with Rumo for the implementation of one of the most modern port terminals in Brazil, to be implemented in the non-organized port area of Santos, for the import of fertilizers and export of grains (up to 12.5 million tons/year).  The deal involved the negotiation of corporate and project agreements, and required legal expertise in several areas including corporate, specialized industry contracts such as TOP contracts, environment, and regulatory matters.
• Advised a Chinese company in the acquisition of a shareholding position with respect to certain energy assets located in the area of private port terminal. This acquisition is related to natural gas thermoelectric power plants and marks our client’s entry into gas generation in Brazil and its installed capacity totals 6 GW.
• Advised a leading Brazilian power-generation company on a structured transaction involving the sale of an equity interest purchase option in energy generating companies, combined with a long-term energy purchase and sale agreement, called “Corporate PPA”, or “PPA Corporativo.” This involved renewable electric power generation plants (wind farms) that will have a total installed capacity of 504 MW. The option and electric power purchaser is a global mining company. The total value of the project is BRL 2.4 billion (considering the total investment in eight wind farms, three of which are reserved for PPA with the mining company).
• Advised a large technology company on the acquisition of an equity interest purchase option in a special purpose company that will build and maintain a large plant for the generation of renewable energy (wind) with a total installed capacity of 504 MW. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed by the parties. The total value of investments in the project is USD 431 million (approx. BRL 2 billion).
• Advised a major Canadian/Chinese company on the divestment of eight wind power plants with a total capacity of 222.6 MW in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
• Advised an Asian multinational company on a USD 487.8 million project financing before BNDES of a 565 MW gas-fired thermos electric power plant to be located in Macae, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• Advised a Chinese multinational on a public tender for the concession of a hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of 1.7 GW located between the states of Minas Gerais and Goiás. The bid for the grant was BRL 7.180 billion.
• Advised a multinational on renewable energy (solar photovoltaic) auctions in 2019 (A-3 and A-6), which resulted in the award of contracts for the purchase and sale of electricity generated by solar-photovoltaic plants with a total capacity of more than 580 MW.
• Advised a Chinese contractor company on a public tender for the concession of a public-private partnership for the construction and operation of the Salvador-Itaparica bridge, with an investment estimate of USD 1.5 billion.
• Advised a major port operator on the revision and renewal of a long-term lease agreement in the area of Santos, Brazil.
• Advised a British multinational on the acquisition of a portfolio of electricity generation projects from a photovoltaic solar source, with a total capacity of 2 GW.
• Advised a major mining company on the acquisition of nickel projects in the northeast of Brazil to the total value of USD 72 million.
• Advised a leading Brazilian power generation company on a project involving the acquisition of 100% of the shares of a joint venture for the generation and commercialization of electricity. The client holds equity stakes in 7 hydroelectric plants (all in operation) and 3 wind farms (in operation and under construction), with a total installed capacity of 1.7 GW. As legal advisors to Auren Energia, as the buyer, we were involved in all the legal stages of the deal so far, including in the due diligence process and in the structuring of the self-production by equivalence model, which was a great challenge from the energy regulation point of view.
• Advised Sino-Canadian company on the sale of 70% of its stake in companies owning two greenfield solar projects that have an estimated capacity of 738 MWP to a Chinese group. On July 29, 2022, the deal was approved by the antitrust authorities and therefore completed. We assisted the client in all stages of the project, including drafting the Share Purchase Agreement and Shareholders Agreement for each project, negotiating the agreements, and preparing all final documents. Our team also assisted in all regulatory aspects of the solar projects related to the transaction and the procedures to request prior approval from the Brazilian antitrust authority for the transaction.
• This project consisted in the first corporate Power Purchase Agreement for a renowned multinational company in Latin America, aiming to secure the acquisition of renewable energy for its activities in Brazil for the next 10 years, including the acquisition of the corresponding renewable energy certificates. Advised the client in all stages of the deal. This is a complex matter, in that the client is not a company in the energy sector, so we have been helping him navigate through the energy regulations and market practices for this type of PPA. Given that this is a long-term PPA for a non-energy company, we are paying special attention to making the client aware of all the risks and legal aspects. The assistance also involves high-level regulatory discussions and the drafting of the PPA in accordance with Brazilian regulations.
• Advised a leading energy production and storage solutions company in the development of offshore gas-to-wire platforms in Brazil. The deal consists of negotiations to obtain the patent license for the technology and partnerships with gas companies, universities, and other contractors for the project development. Because the technology is new and highly confidential, relating to projects that have never been implemented, we have provided advice on various aspects, such as contractual, regulatory, and intellectual property. The project also involves securing the exclusive rights to sell the turbines for the projects. Trench Rossi Watanabe is assisting the client in drafting and negotiating the necessary contracts and agreements to ensure the viability of the projects for participation in the auctions. This is a very complex project, as it deals with several aspects of an offshore gas-fired power generation project, with a technology never before tested.
• Advised one of China’s top five power generation companies to obtain a 33% stake in GNA’s two gas-fired thermal power plants, GNA I and GNA II. The two projects, which are still under construction, will have a combined capacity of 3,000 megawatts and will include a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal when they are completed. When operational, the GNA plants will be among the largest gas-to-energy projects in Latin America, with the capacity to supply up to 14 million homes. When the two plants are completed, there are plans to expand the project to two more thermal plants – GNA III and GNA IV – which would bring the total installed capacity to 6,400 megawatts. Trench Rossi Watanabe helped the client enter into an agreement with a German conglomerate, a British oil giant and a Brazilian logistics company to purchase a stake in their joint thermal power project in Brazil. This transaction was awarded as one of the most relevant deals in the Overseas Deals category by the China Business Law Deal of the Year, 2020 edition.

Languages

Portuguese, english and spanish.