Marval, PAGBAM advise on $1.42bn Raízen deal
Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal has represented Raízen, while Pérez Alati, Grondona, Benites & Arntsen (PAGBAM) advised Mercuria Energy Group on the acquisition of 100% of Raízen’s downstream business in Argentina for a preliminary purchase price of US$1.42 billion. The transaction was announced to the São Paulo Stock Exchange on June 4, 2026, and ranks among the most significant local transactions in Argentina’s recent history.
The legal structuring of the deal was executed through the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Raízen Argentina, Raizen Energina, Estación Lima and Deheza, together with the transfer of a strategic interest in Terminales Marítimas Patagónicas (TERMAP).
Through the transaction, Mercuria Energy Group acquires control over a strategic infrastructure portfolio that includes the Dock Sud refinery, a lubricants plant in the City of Buenos Aires, aviation fuel facilities, fuel terminals in Arroyo Seco and Santa Fe, and a network of more than 800 service stations currently operating under the Shell brand. The acquired business represents approximately 18% of Argentina’s fuel dispatch market and is complemented by B2B marketing divisions, aviation hydrocarbon supply, and the provision of asphalt and chemicals for the industrial sector.
The final closing of the transaction is expected within the current year, subject to customary conditions precedent, including regulatory, governmental and judicial approvals across various jurisdictions.
Marval’s team was led by partners Santiago Soria (pictured left), Diego Chighizola and Bárbara Ramperti, together with associates Delfina Majdalani and Julia Mulville. Additional support came from partner Walter Keiniger (tax), partner Francisco Abeal (banking and finance), senior expert associate Gabriel Fortuna (environmental law), partner Guillermo Osorio and associate Paola Forchiassin (labor law), and partner Manuela Adrogué (intellectual property). Raízen also received legal advice from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Pinheiro Neto Advogados.
PAGBAM’s team was led by partner Alan Arntsen (pictured right), alongside partners Manuel Benites, Pedro Eugenio Aramburu and Juan Ignacio Dighero, counsel F. Nicanor Berola, senior associate Marcos Vieito, and associate Abril Torres. Further support was provided by partner Facundo Fernández Santos (tax), counsel Matías Fuse (labor), counsel Eugenio Bauer and associate Felicitas de Luca (litigation), partner Vanina Veiga, senior associate Azul Juarez Pereyra and associate Agustina Martínez Martin (corporate), partner Guillermo Quiñoa and senior associate Alejandro Polivanoff (real estate), partner Nicole Jaureguiberry and senior associate Luciana Casagrande (administrative and regulatory law), senior associate Juan Ignacio Rodriguez Goñi (banking), partner Lucila Guerrero (insurance), and senior associate María Florencia Conde (customs). Sullivan & Cromwell LLP , Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, and Lefosse, also advised Mercuria Energy Group in connection with the transaction.
