Souto Correa appoints four new partners

Souto Correa Advogados has strengthened its Capital Markets, M&A, Real Estate, and Tax practices in Brazil by promoting four associates to equity partners.

The firm has announced the promotions of Clarissa Yokomizo (Corporate Law and M&A), Fábio Baldissera (Real Estate), Ingrid Hessling (Capital Markets), and Pedro Demartini (Tax). Since January 1, 2023, the firm counts with 32 equity partners.

Newly elected partner Fábio Baldissera is based in Porto Alegre and has worked at Souto Correa since its inception, in February 2013. He spearheads the firm’s real estate practice and has extensive knowledge and experience in the field, including matters connected to M&A transactions, infrastructure projects, wealth management, and succession planning, as well as strategic real estate litigation. Earlier this year, he was seen working alongside new partners Ingrid Hessling and Clarissa Yokomizo as counsel to Brazilian logistic group LOG Commercial Properties e Participações in the selling of assets to Credit Suisse.[1]

Clarissa Yokomizo and Pedro Demartini are based in São Paulo, having both joined Souto Correa in 2015. She practices in the firm’s corporate team, where she specializes in M&A, energy projects, competition issues, and estate planning. Prior to joining the firm, Clarissa acquired extensive international experience, having worked in cross-border matters in a law firm in France and in a multinational company in Japan.

In 2022, Clarissa worked on some ‘eye-catching’ deals, such as Oleoplan in the selling of FASA to Texan food processor Darling[2], and the joint venture between Telefônica and Ânima Educação[3] focused on developing and offering short-term professional educational courses on a digital platform.

Before joining Souto Correa, Pedro Demartini was an associate at Pinheiro Neto for ten years. He focuses his practice on indirect taxes and related litigation at the federal, state, and municipal levels, representing clients from many different economic sectors, such as technology, retail, oil and gas, and agribusiness. As tax area coordinator in 2022, Pedro has advised several projects and obtained favorable decisions for clients in relevant cases related to the technology, energy, and agribusiness sectors.

Rio-based Ingrid Hessling joined Souto Correa in February 2022 from Stocche Forbes, where she had spent nine years as an associate. Earlier this year, Hessling helped Brazilian energy group Energisa to make two separate debt issuances worth 1 billion reais (US$198 million) in total. She has also recently assisted Kijani Investimentos[4], Vinci Partners[5], and AZ Quest[6] in offerings from their respectively agribusiness-focused funds.

According to managing partner Guilherme Rizzo Amaral, “when I look at this quartet, I see we were very fortunate in combining technical skills, business acumen, and the right culture and values, while also keeping our commitment to improving gender diversity within our partnership.” He adds: “we have also welcomed a record of 22 new associates from our rank of interns, which reaffirms our commitment to develop and invest in our young talent. We grow to provide everyone within the firm opportunities to grow as well. Focus on the people has been our mantra during our first 10 years and will remain so into the next decade.”

Earlier this year, the firm added a lateral hire as a partner. Anderson Ribeiro[7] joined from Kasznar Leonardos to head the Life Sciences department at Souto Correa. The firm has also boosted its senior rank by recruiting senior industry lawyer Paulo Rosito[8] as counsel, strengthening its life sciences group, as well as by hiring agribusiness lawyer Ticiane Figueirêdo[9], who has 12 years of experience in credit granting and structuring operations, such as digital bonds, issuance of Rural Product Bills (CPRs), and negotiations in the Barter model.

*          *          *

Souto Correa Advogados combines technical acumen with a business-oriented approach to sophisticated matters. Since its launch almost a decade ago, the firm’s full-service offering has rapidly muscled its way into the competitive market. Its youthful outlook is combined with a multidisciplinary approach, integrating knowledge from several departments to create innovative legal solutions. Its client list includes some important and highly esteemed names that allude to the firm’s level of prowess.

---

[1] https://latinlawyer.com/article/credit-suisse-buys-assets-brazilian-logistics-group

[2] https://latinlawyer.com/article/us-food-producer-buys-brazilian-rendering-group

[3] https://thelatinamericanlawyer.com/kla-and-souto-correa-act-in-jv-between-Telefônica-and-anima/

[4] https://latinlawyer.com/article/souto-correa-and-stocche-forbes-in-agribusiness-fund-offering

[5] https://www.soutocorrea.com.br/noticias/souto-correa-assessorou-a-xp-investimentos-como-coordenador-lider-na-oferta-publica-de-cotas-de-emissao-do-vinci-credito-agro-fiagro-imobiliario-vica11/

[6] https://thelatinamericanlawyer.com/souto-correa-advises-az-quest-on-issuance-of-cotas/

[7] https://latinlawyer.com/article/souto-correa-appoints-partner-new-life-sciences-group

[8] https://latinlawyer.com/article/souto-correa-strengthens-life-sciences-team-in-house-hire

[9] https://thelatinamericanlawyer.com/souto-correa-hires-specialist-in-agribusiness-area/