An interview with Federico Rucavado: Facio&Cañas partner discusses the challenges corporate clients face and the advantages of investing in Costa Rica

Rucavado currently leads the Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions practice at Facio&Cañas. The lawyer, recognized as Top Ranked Lawyer (Corporate and M&A) - Chambers and Partners Latin America, spoke about the milestones of his career and the latest deals he has worked on.

Latin Counsel: How have you grown within Facio&Cañas?

Federico Rucavado: Last February 1st we celebrated 4 years of being part of Facio & Cañas. It has been a wonderful 4 years. Throughout this time, we have managed to reposition Facio & Cañas internationally as the reference firm in the legal services market in Costa Rica. This has allowed us to grow at an even faster pace than we were expecting, as the reaction has been extraordinary.  We have grown in all practice areas and in the last 12 months we have opened two new offices, one located in the area of Conchal, Guancaste, and the other in Santa Teresa.

LC: What is the last deal you have worked on, and what other relevant deals of the last months can you detail?

FR: The last deal we closed was the purchase by BIA COFFEE of Café Rey.  It was an extremely challenging transaction, as it involved the participation of members of our M&A, Corporate, Competition, Labor, Public, Environmental and Litigation (both civil and criminal) practices.  Additionally, we have recently participated in the sale of Tico Electronics to GW Lisk, the sale of PREINSA to GW Liks and the purchase of Truck Parts by Repuestos El Camionero (a MATRA group company). At this moment, we are in the final stages of closing 3 additional transactions (two representing the buyers and one representing the seller).

LC: In the area of mergers and acquisitions, what are the most frequent obstacles your corporate clients face and how do you help them overcome them?

FR: I would say that the main obstacle we face is when our client is the buyer and the company being acquired has not been advised by lawyers specialized in the different practice areas (corporate, labor, tax, competition, etc.), in which case the acquisition process becomes complex due to the discovery of important contingencies (and unknown to the owners) that entail the need for more extensive negotiation processes.  The best way to solve this situation is through our specialized teams in each practice area, which, when preparing the Due Diligence process reports, make it easier for the seller to understand that, although they were unaware of it, their companies have incurred in some actions or omissions that make them susceptible to some unexpected contingencies.  This, together with the accumulated experience of our M&A team in this type of negotiations, usually makes these processes much easier.

LC: As a business specialist, what attractive investment opportunities do you see in Costa Rica today?

FR: The truth is that at the moment Costa Rica is the most beautiful bride in our region, for being the country with the greatest political, economic and social stability.  This, together with the strategic location of our country, makes it extremely attractive for international groups wishing to expand their operations to our region, as Costa Rica becomes the first point of entry to Central America.  For the aforementioned reasons, in recent months we have received clients interested in acquiring companies in a wide variety of sectors, such as technology, food, real estate, industry, etc.

LC: Has the legal framework for investment and business in Costa Rica and Central America improved? What aspects remain to be resolved?

FR: In the case of Costa Rica, we have always been recognized as the most law-abiding country and with Courts of Justice that deserve all the confidence of investors. This invites them to invest with great confidence, because they know that their investments are not at risk depending on the government in power, which makes investors continue to prefer our country as the main location for their investments in the region.

LC: What new projects are coming up in your career and in Facio&Cañas for 2024?

FR: We must continue working hard in the repositioning of Facio & Cañas as the reference and leader of legal services in Costa Rica. We are a Law Firm with 82 years of existence and that has been recognized since its origins for the high quality of the services it offers to its clients.  We will continue working hard to maintain within our team the best professionals in the Costa Rican legal market, in order to continue guaranteeing our current and potential clients that they will have legal services of the highest quality for the attention of their legal matters in our country.

Fayca.com

Interview by: Marina Vanni