Cross-Border M&A: Doing Deals in Latin America

Rodrigo Dominguez Sotomayor, Partner at White & Case LLP

Most US buyers approach Latin America M&A the same way they do a domestic deal — optimize the process, close fast, move on. That approach gets deals killed.

Rodrigo Dominguez Sotomayor, Partner at White & Case LLP, has spent 25 years closing transactions across every major Latin America market. In this episode, he walks through what actually determines outcomes: antitrust consent timelines, labor regimes that make post-close restructuring expensive, and the relationship dynamics that can unwind a billion-dollar deal a week before signing.

What You'll Learn In This Episode:

• How a PE fund lost a billion-dollar deal over 2% — and why it was avoidable
• Why LatAm antitrust approvals can take up to nine months and how to plan around them
• What no employment-at-will actually costs you post-close
• Why showing up to a LatAm auction without reps & warranties insurance is a disadvantage
• How to negotiate with family founders when price isn't what closes the deal
• Why 80% of Latin America deals now run through auctions

Your standard diligence process will miss things that kill LatAm deals — statutory severance you didn't model, title searches that go back a hundred years, antitrust consent timelines that block close for months, auctions where R&W insurance is already expected.

Running diligence on a LatAm target right now? The M&A Science Hub has two resources built directly from this episode — the LATAM Diligence Delta Checklist and the Latin America M&A Entry Playbook — plus an AI tutor trained on 400+ practitioner conversations you can pressure-test your current deal against.

Members get access before the episode goes public. → Access inside the Intelligence Hub — members only.

____________________

This episode is sponsored by DealRoom

Stop juggling six different tools to run one deal. DealRoom brings pipeline management, diligence tracking, document sharing, and team collaboration into one platform. Purpose-built for M&A teams who need to move fast without losing control. request your demo today: https://hubs.ly/Q03ZMvQX0

____________________

Episode Chapters

[00:04:26] Rodrigo's background: 25 years across Latin America M&A

[00:06:57] How a cross-border acquisition actually starts

[00:10:17] Bilateral deals and family-owned businesses

[00:12:52] Reading the room: when not to push on numbers

[00:14:12] The billion-dollar deal that fell apart over 2%

[00:20:02] Antitrust consent regimes across LatAm

[00:29:49] The union leader story

[00:27:14] Labor, employment, and statutory severance

[00:34:04] Reps & warranties insurance: now standard in LatAm

[00:38:44] Auction vs. bilateral: the 80/20 split

[00:44:01] FinTech opportunity in Latin America

[00:48:05] NVCA forms and deal documentation

[00:52:48] Post-close integration: what actually determines success

[00:55:51] Craziest Thing in M&A