Uría Portugal renews second term for co-managing partners

Uría Menéndez-Proença de Carvalho has renewed the mandate of Antonio Villacampa and Bernardo Ayala as managing partners

At a meeting held on 21st September, the Board of Directors of Uría Menéndez Portugal have put their trust and faith in a renewed mandate for co-managing partners Antonio Villacampa (pictured left) and Bernardo Ayala (pictured right).

The two lawyers initially assumed the co-direction of the Portugal office on 1st January 2018.

A spokesperson for the firm said: “The Board of Directors, recognising their decisive role in the leadership position that the firm has in Portugal, appoints them for a new term of four years of consolidation of that same position.”

Villacampa Serrano, has been very active in the Corporate market this year, notably advising the team on Kohlberg Kravis Robert’s (KKR) participation in the investment round raised by Feedzai, a Portuguese company that belongs to an exclusive club of Portuguese businesses to achieve unicorn status; such as Unbabel, Outsystems, Talkdesk and Farfetch. The lawyer is originally from Spain and has been with Uría Menéndez since 1995.

Ayala has developed his career in the Portuguese market – having joined the firm from Sérvulo in 2008. His practice is focused on the areas of Public Law, Project Finance and Energy and Natural Resources. When the two managing partners were last interviewed by Iberian Lawyer just a year after their appointment, Ayala explained the reason behind the strategy: “The firm benefits from a Portuguese managing partner who is possibly more aware of the specifics of the Portuguese market, and a Spanish managing partner who was born and raised in Uría Ménendez and who can easily relate with the Spanish side of the Iberian culture. In the case of Uría Menéndez’s operation in Portugal, this is made a lot easier by the fact that Antonio Villacampa has been in Portugal for more than 15 years.”