Gowlings, which hired corporate finance and mining expert Avril Cole in January, continues to expand in the same practice areas with another lateral hire.
France Tenaille, who previously practiced law at Cassels Brock, is now partner in Gowlings’s Toronto office. Tenaille represents Canadian and foreign issuers on combinations, divestitures, joint ventures, reorganizations, royalties, and other matters. She has a particular focus on cross-border deals involving parties and assets in Latin America.
In a discussion with IFLR1000, Tenaille noted that Latin America’s markets have generally been growing in the past few years, even though some sectors are now slowing down. She sees significant potential for growth in Colombia, where there is demand for infrastructure projects such as ports, highways, and warehouses, as well as in Chile and neighboring jurisdictions.
“In Latin America, people are very aware of U.S. law firms, but people are not really that aware of Canadian law firms unless it is in mining. Parties in Europe and Asia have tended to seek U.S. counsel for deals in Latin America, but there is no reason it couldn’t be Canadian law firms, and that’s the opportunity that I see. I asked, how can I utilize all the skill sets I have developed during my time in Canada and my additional expertise in Latin America?” Tenaille said.
Tenaille described Venezuela as a more complicated story than some of the other jurisdictions. The situation there has gotten worse in the last few years as the government has defaulted on many of its international commitments, she noted.
“Internally, the country is undergoing shortages of food, water, energy, and infrastructure, and very few news outlets are fully apprised of what’s going on. Generally, you have to rely on social media to get a better view. At the same time, Venezuela has been a great opportunity for certain law firms that have a focus primarily on energy, oil, and gas,” Tenaille commented.
“Venezuela, as everybody knows, is full of resources. Hopefully if there is a turn of government and it doesn’t represent a continuation of what is happening now, there will be a significant amount of investment, similar to what has happened in Colombia. Five years ago, that country really opened again for investment, mining was very big, and I had the fortune of doing four deals there,” she added.
Tenaille holds a law degree from the Universidad de Católica Andrés Bello.