Month: January 2022

Affinitas member firm Mijares Angoitia Cortés y Fuentes represented Grupo Televisa in the negotiation of several agreements with Live Nation Entertainment to move forward with the previously announced acquisition by Live Nation of Televisa’s unconsolidated 40% equity participation in OCESA Entretenimiento (OCESA), for USD 261,96m.

OCESA owns Ticketmaster México, OCESA Seitrack (specialized in artist management and booking), ICREA (corporate events) and Centro Citibanamex (dedicated to exhibitions and conventions).

This transaction was highlighted as “Deal of the Year” in the 2021 edition of the Mexico Annual Report issued by Transactional Track Record (TTR).

The team that advised Grupo Televisa was composed of partners Carlos Orcí, Francisco Fuentes, Francisco Glennie and Ricardo Maldonado, as well as trainee Iván Serralde.

Mexican member firm Mijares, Angoitia, Cortés y Fuentes represented the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación, AC (FMF) and various soccer clubs in the investigation and proceeding instituted by the Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica (“COFECE”) in the market for the signing of professional soccer players, which dealt with no-poach agreements between competitors.

In June 2018, COFECE initiated ex officio an investigation (the “Investigation”) in the aforementioned market, with a view to investigate the practice known in the media as the “Pacto de Caballeros” consisting of an agreement between Liga MX Clubs that may have restricted the mobility of professional players without a non-contract according to COFECE. These types of practices are commonly known as no-poach agreements and constitute an absolute monopolistic practice in terms of the Federal Economic Competition Law (“FECL”).

In September 2021, COFECE issued a resolution in which it determined the liability of 17 Clubs of Liga MX for carrying out the practice, and the participation of the FMF and some individuals as coadjutants in the practice and imposed a total fine of MXP$177.6 million. After the resolution, the FMF and the sanctioned Clubs paid the fines imposed, in order to terminate the procedure, without challenging the Resolution.

The investigation is the first case initiated by COFECE in labor markets and is a clear example of the relevance that such markets are gaining in the competition policy of the competition authorities at an international level. Since several years ago, competition authorities have expressed their interest in investigating that labor markets operate under competitive conditions, and that employers (in their role as demanders of labor services) do not engage in conduct that implies coordination: (i) to fix labor benefits (e.g. wages or some benefit granted as a labor incentive); and/or (ii) to restrict workers’ mobility (with the consequent depression of wages).

The Investigation sets a precedent of the importance of economic competition law in the labor area, and a message to make companies aware that the LFCE is also applicable in the labor area of the companies and therefore of the importance of training their human resources areas.

The team that represented FMF was composed of partners Francisco Fuente and Carlos Orcí, as well as associate Patricio Rivas.

Affinitas member firm Gómez-Pinzón advised Onnet Fibra Colombia, a Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) subsidiary, on an agreement with Colombia Telecomunicaciones, a Telefónica subsidiary,  to acquire a 60% controlling stake of Telefónica Colombia’s existing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network. The advice consisted of acquisition, financing, regulatory and competition matters.

This deal is considered the largest private open access wholesale digital infrastructure investment ever made in the country and will provide broadband access to nearly 4.3 million Colombian homes in the next three years.

The acquisition was financed with the participation of Scotiabank Colpatria and Bancolombia, as senior banks in the financing, with commitments in its different tranches for USD 221,000,000.

The team that acted as Colombian counsel of KKR in this landmark project was led by partners Natalia García and Daniel Londoño and included the participation of the following practice areas: Corporate and M&A, Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Technology, Communications and Data Protection, Tax and Competition.