The international legal and tax services firm Garrigues and the Mexican firm Sánchez Devanny have reached an agreement for the integration of the latter into the Garrigues Group before the end of the year. The integration will create one of the largest firms in Mexico, the only one with fully staffed offices in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Querétaro, with nearly 160 professionals. Garrigues, which will own 100% of the resulting entity, Garrigues Mexico, will thus reinforce its leadership position in Latin America.
Sánchez Devanny is a full-service firm specializing in providing innovative solutions with a comprehensive vision. It has almost 30 years of history and offices in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Querétaro. The firm has over 20 partners and nearly 100 professionals. Garrigues, the largest firm in the European Union by revenue, has had a direct presence in Mexico since 2014 through its Mexico City office, which has 6 partners and over 30 professionals. Following the integration with Sánchez Devanny, Mexico will become Garrigues' second-largest market after Spain. In Latin America, Garrigues also has offices in Colombia, Chile, and Peru.
In an increasingly complex global business environment that requires sophisticated and specialized legal services for companies worldwide to seize business opportunities, and at a time when Mexico is both a source and recipient of significant capital flows from the US and Europe, this integration will provide significant added value in service delivery. It combines Sánchez Devanny's deep knowledge and experience with local and international clients in the Mexican market with Garrigues' international strength (which has a presence in 12 countries) and its one-stop-shop model, enabling it to offer local, regional, and international advice through regional teams by service lines to coordinate cross-border projects and operations.
Both firms share similar visions and values regarding business pillars such as diversity and inclusion, innovation in the use of technologies, professionalism, and ethics in service delivery. Clients will continue to receive excellent service, now with a more global approach from an international platform.
The general partners of Sánchez Devanny will become partners of Garrigues. The firm's professionals will be part of a large international platform and benefit from its international training programs, equal opportunity policies (in 2023, 49% of Garrigues' hires and 50% of promotions were women), and career development plans, among other things.
The integration, scheduled for the fourth quarter of the year, is subject to confirmatory due diligence, the signing of final contractual agreements, and the approval of the respective bodies of both firms.
"For Garrigues it is a great satisfaction to be able to integrate Sánchez Devanny, its partners, and professionals into our organization. Both firms, besides being complementary, share the same values and objectives for the Mexican market and the same way of practicing business law, from service excellence, ethical commitment, and an innovative attitude. The clients of both firms will be the main beneficiaries as they will continue to receive the same quality of service while having access to more practice areas and stronger teams. I am confident that together we will achieve great things. I take this opportunity to welcome all Sánchez Devanny professionals to Garrigues," says Fernando Vives, executive president of Garrigues.
Rafael Villamar, managing partner of Sánchez Devanny, states that "it is a joy for us to be part of Garrigues and to contribute all our knowledge and experience. This integration represents a very important step: the combination of both firms places us in a leadership and reference position in the Mexican market and the possibility of offering our clients a single platform to address all their Latin American matters, now with our offices in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile."
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About Garrigues
Garrigues is an international legal and tax services firm that advises locally, regionally, and globally from all angles of business law. The strength of Garrigues lies in its team of over 2,000 people who work transversally to solve clients' problems, and in the values it shares in the 12 countries where it operates: maximum service quality, ethical commitment, and an innovative attitude to anticipate market needs. Ultimately, Garrigues aims to drive business development in a more just, ethical, responsible, and sustainable society.
About Sánchez Devanny
Sánchez Devanny is a Mexican legal consulting firm with international experience, specializing in providing holistic and innovative solutions to meet clients' needs, understanding their industries comprehensively. It practices law with social responsibility, transparency, ethics, and inclusion. It establishes long-term relationships with clients by striving to understand their businesses and expectations and focuses on providing comprehensive, clear, and personalized advice. This approach builds lasting relationships that go beyond a simple temporary service contract. Today, it continues to advise clients who have trusted the firm since its founding in 1996 with the vision of being a business ally.
