BLP advises GDF Suez in the sale of assets to Celsia in Costa Rica and Panama

BLP advised GDF Suez (GSZ:ESP) in a large and complex transaction to sell a number of assets to Celsia in Costa Rica and Panama. This deal was valued at a total of 850 million dollars, 100 million of which corresponded to assets located in Costa Rica. 

GDF Suez (GSZ:ESP) is a France-based multinational company with 147,400 employees worldwide and operations in 70 countries, engaged in the generation and distribution of electric power, natural gas and renewable energies. Celsia is a public utility company specialized in the electric power generation and distribution business, with presence in Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama. 

BLP’s legal assistance involved M&A, competition, and tax matters. The legal team consisted of Partner Luis M. Castro and Associate Bernardo van der Laat, as well as Partner Mauricio Salas to address competition issues, which entailed major challenges due to an investigation opened by Coprocom in connection with this transaction. 

GDF Suez was represented by BLP in CR, Fabrego Molino y Mulino in Panama, and by White & Case in New York. Celsia was represented by Zurcher Odio & Raven in CR, Alcogal in Panama, and by Wilkie Farr in New York.