Arias Costa Rica advises Accenture on atratetig acquisition to enable global partnership with Bat 

ARIAS Costa Rica is proud to announce its role as local counsel to Accenture (UK) Limited ("Accenture") in the Costa Rican leg of its strategic global transaction with British American Tobacco (BAT), aimed at transforming BAT’s international business operations and supply network.

As part of this broader partnership, Accenture is acquiring select BAT entities and assets in key jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, Poland, Romania, Costa Rica, Mexico, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore, that form part of BAT’s Global Business Solutions and Supply Network Operations. The Costa Rican component included the acquisition of 100% of the shares of a local BAT entity operating under the Free Trade Zone regime.

This transaction reflects BAT’s ongoing transformation into a more agile, tech-driven business, enabling Accenture to bring its world-class expertise in digital, AI, analytics, and operations to co-create a next-generation global services model for BAT. The partnership will also leverage Accenture’s global learning capabilities to support the upskilling of BAT’s workforce.

ARIAS supported Accenture in all stages of the Costa Rican aspect of the deal, including:

• Legal due diligence and share acquisition structuring.
• Advice on Free Trade Zone and regulatory compliance.
• Guidance on complex labor and employment considerations.
• Assistance with tax, corporate, and transactional matters.

Given the multijurisdictional scope of the transaction and the operational relevance of Costa Rica as one of BAT’s strategic hubs, the process required extensive cross-border coordination and in-depth regulatory analysis. Closing remains subject to antitrust clearance from the Costa Rican Competition Commission (Coprocom). ARIAS is supporting Accenture throughout this process.

This transaction demonstrates ARIAS Costa Rica’s capabilities in high-impact, cross-border M&A, with particular strength in regulated sectors and multinational structures.
The deal was led by the ARIAS M&A team, with Andrey Dorado (Partner), Tracy Varela (Senior Counsel), Arianne Silva (Senior Associate), and Franzini Colom (Associate)
With additional support from:

• Carlos Camacho, Partner
• Carolina Soto, Partner
• Vivian Gazel, Senior Counsel
• Luis Diego Obando, Senior Counsel
• German Rojas, Senior Counsel
• Laura Pérez, Government Affairs & Free Trade Zone Manager
• Ulises Arias, Fiscal and Financial Adviser
• Paola Rojas, Senior Associate
• María Alexandra Álvarez, Associate
• Fabiola Tames, Associate
• Natalia Bravo, Associate