Philippi Prietocarrizosa Ferrero DU & Uría (Peru) has hired a counsel from Dentons (Peru) as head of its public law practice.
The Highly Recommended firm announced the hire of Angie Umezawa on 25 May as counsel. PPU now has 17 partners and two counsel in Lima.
Umezawa has almost 20 years of experience in administrative and regulatory matters, having held a series of positions in public sector bodies throughout her career. The new practice head has experience in public-private partnership (PPP) projects, having worked with local and foreign private sector clients in the design of private investments in Peruvian infrastructure projects.
Umezawa joins PPU from Dentons’ Peruvian office, where she spent the last four years as infrastructure counsel. This followed a year as partner at Recommended firm SUMARA Hub Legal. In previous roles, Umezawa worked as an adviser to OSINERGMIN, the Peruvian government body responsible for the tariff regulation and supervision of companies in the electricity, hydrocarbon and mining sectors, and the national telecoms regulator, OSIPTEL.
The hire marks Umezawa’s return to PPU, where she worked as a senior associate in 2016 after six years at predecessor firm Delmar Ugarte Abogados (it joined PPU in 2016).
Rafael Boisset, managing partner of PPU in Peru, says: “It is a privilege to welcome back Angie who previously belonged to our family.” Boisset goes on to comment that “the experience and skills she acquired during her career is of utmost importance in order to continue strengthening our team.”
Partner Ronald Fernández Dávila led the public law department before Umezawa’s incorporation. He continues at the firm as head of the projects practice.
Regional firm PPU operates in three out of the four Pacific Alliance countries: Chile, Colombia and Peru. The firm’s Peruvian offering is best known for its banking and M&A capabilities. In April, it helped French PR company Publicis acquire Argentine technology-focused consultancy Practia. Last month, it was awarded Latin Lawyer’s Deal of the Year Award in the regulatory category for its advice to Farmacéutica Euroandina in its acquisition of local counterpart Hersil, the first deal to pass phase II of the country’s new merger control regime.
Dentons arrived in Peru back in 2017, merging with local firm Gallo Barrios Pickmann. It is best known for its M&A and mining teams. Back in August, it hired a banking partner from PPU.
The firm has nine partners and one of counsel in Peru, following Umezawa’s departure. Local managing partner Manuel Barrios wished Umezawa the best in her new endeavours.
The global firm has strengthened several of its Latin American offices in recent months. In March, it hired the general counsel of Ecuadorean infrastructure group SUDINCO as partner in Quito, soon after the firm recruited an in-house lawyer from Spanish auditing company Qualifyze as counsel in its Argentine disputes resolution department. In the same month, Dentons promoted a commercial lawyer to director in Colombia.
