Juan Francisco Méndez is a Partner in the Firm’s Corporate Department in New York and a core member of the Firm’s Global Latin America practice group. He has extensive experience in cross-border transactions, including financings, acquisitions, restructurings, investigations and other complex corporate matters. Fluent in English and Spanish, Juan Francisco’s practice primarily focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean.
Juan Francisco has developed close trusted relationships, advising leading companies, international investors, private equity groups and investment banks on some of their most important matters throughout the region. He has worked on a wide range of equity (including IPOs), high yield and investment grade debt, and structured and hybrid securities transactions, as well as restructurings, liability management transactions, syndicated loans and acquisition financings. Juan Francisco has also represented companies and private equity groups in large and complex acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and tender offers. In addition, he has represented companies and boards of directors in connection with investigations and other crisis management matters.
Juan Francisco has worked on transactions with, among others, América Móvil, Grupo Mexico, FIBRA Prologis, FIBRA Macquarie México and CFE in Mexico; Banco Macro, YPF Luz, Pan American Energy, Grupo Galicia and Genneia in Argentina; Embraer and BRF—Brasil Foods in Brazil; Embotelladora Andina, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, CSAV and SAAM in Chile; GrupoSura, Nutresa, Ecopetrol, Sura Asset Management and Almaneces Exito in Colombia; Intercorp, Cementos Pacasmayo, Aenza, Interbank, InRetail and Minsur in Peru; and Despegar.com and Cinemark throughout the region. He has handled matters for JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, Citigroup, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, UBS, BTG Pactual and Itaú. He has also represented Firm clients such as The Blackstone Group.
Juan’s recent work highlights include advising:
- Nutresa in connection with the unsolicited tender offers by Grupo Gilinski
- Aenza in connection with the unsolicited tender offer by IG4 Capital, which was recognized as the 2022 “Private Equity Deal of the Year” by Latin Lawyer
- SAAM, a Latin American port operator headquarter in Chile, in its joint venture with Boskalis, as well as its proposed sale of its shipping terminal and logistic businesses to Hapag-Lloyd for $1 billion
- Sura Asset Management and Grupo Weise in connection with the sale of Seguros Sura, a leading insurance provider in Peru
- Underwriters in multiple debt offerings by América Móvil, Latin America’s largest telecommunications company
- FIBRA Macquarie, a real estate fund with one of Mexico’s largest industrial properties portfolios, in its formation and $1.1 billion Rule 144A/Regulation S IPO
- Despegar.com, a Latin American online booking source, in the minority investment made by Expedia, its SEC-registered IPO and NYSE listing, and the PIPE investments made by Catterton and Waha
- Minsur, one of Peru’s leading mining companies and part of the Breca conglomerate, in its inaugural global bond offer, liability management and syndicated credit facility
- YPF Luz, Genneia, Albanesi, MSU and Central Puerto, all Argentine electricity companies, in their inaugural global bond offers or IPOs
- Underwriters and lenders in multiple financings for the Intercorp group companies, a large Peruvian conglomerate, including the IPO of Intercorp Financial Services
Juan Francisco has significant experience working on both U.S. and Latin American transactions and is capable of seamlessly navigating his clients through diverse cultures and business practices. He has been recognized by Chambers Latin America for over 10 years running as a leading practitioner in Latin America–wide capital markets, as well as a Leading Lawyer by The Legal 500 Latin America in capital markets (2018-2025) and The Legal 500 USA in capital markets: global offerings (2024). He has also been consistently recognized as a leading U.S. attorney with a focus on Mexico by The Legal 500 Private Practice Powerlist 2017 - 2022. Recently, Juan Francisco was also recognized by The Latin American Corporate Counsel Association (LACCA) as a LACCA Approved Practitioner in Corporate/M&A and Capital Markets in Latin America (2021-2022;2025), as well as an IFLR 1000 “Notable Practitioner” in the United States (2019-2025) in Corporate/M&A and Capital Markets (equity & debt).
Juan Francisco is a member of the International Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association. He received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law; and his B.A. from the University of Virginia. Juan Francisco is on the board of the Safe Passage Project and the Vance Center, and regularly assists with pro bono work for Pro Mujer.