Paul Hastings LLP has provided legal counsel to Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, and Itaú Unibanco during CMA Terminal’s tag-along and delisting tender offer for Santos Brasil Participações S.A. As a result of the transaction, CMA Terminals, which is part of the French shipping group CMA CGM, increased its ownership in Santos Brasil to 93%. Santos Brasil has operated the Port of Santos since 1997. Prior to this deal, CMA Terminals had acquired a 48% stake in September 2024.
The transaction is valued at about $975 million and is among the largest deals completed in Brazil this year.
Jonathan Kellner, Chair of the São Paulo office, led the Paul Hastings team involved in the transaction. The team also included partners Grissel Mercado, Alex Herman, Marija Pecar, Olivier Vermeulen and Marc Zerah as well as associates Thomas Ayres and Peter Pedrazzani.
“With widely recognized elite teams across 17 core practices, Paul Hastings is a premier law firm with a culture of excellence focused on providing intellectual capital and superior execution globally to the world’s leading investment banks, asset managers and corporations,” according to information from Paul Hastings.