Miguel Riaño: from law to investments
The founder of Carbonia Investments and former direct partner of Herbert Smith Freehills talks about his change of direction, the growing litigation market in Spain and the future of collaboration between law firms and investment funds.
by julia gil
“I had been thinking about setting up my own structure, my own organization, for a long time”. Miguel Riaño, former managing partner and president of Herbert Smith Frehills, had it clear when he decided to found Carbonia Investments in 2018. Although it was not until March 2024 that he fully disassociated himself from the law firm, his interest in business and investments led him to embark on this new path. The first operations of the Carbonia group focused on the field of financing and acquisition of portfolios of litigation proceedings, being the first European company to close the acquisition of large portfolios of Ibex companies, such as Acciona and Telefónica. After expanding its services, in 2023, the debt fund Fortress became part of the company’s capital with the acquisition of 20% of the fund’s shareholding, thus becoming its partner to channel the investments of the North American group in Spain. The executive president and founding partner of Carbonia, tells us what motivated him to make this change, how he sees the current market for the acquisition of legal assets and the current relationship between law firms and investment funds in terms of collaboration.
What motivated the switch from law to investment management?
I had long had in mind to set up my own structure, my own organization. In 2018 we founded this fund, called Carbonia, together with a number of partners and, at that time, I was still at Herbert Smith Freehills still. The firm started to transition a bit, for a long and thoughtful period towards a new structure. Months later Eduardo Soler became the new managing partner in April 2023 (link to news) and, at the same time, I moved into the role of presiding partner. I had the idea of throwing myself into the new project and so I did. But, the reality is that I have not disassociated myself 100% from the legal world, I am still linked through the firm Riaño Abogados (ndp: firm of which he is a founding partner).
Carbonia is a pioneer in Spain in the field of the acquisition of rights derived from litigation, how would you describe the current market for the acquisition of legal assets?
Since our first transactions, in 2018 and 2019, with Acciona and Telefónica, we have seen a growing market in value and opportunities. Companies are starting to see that there can really be an opportunity in financing through these assets, and it’s a market that I think has a lot of future, certainly. Companies are more aware that they have legal assets that can have a value in the market, previously seen as uncertain liabilities, that can be monetized to generate liquidity. They are alternative financing for companies.
Do you think that law firms in Spain are increasingly interested in litigation financing services for their clients?
