Biography
His main areas of practice are mergers & acquisitions, public financing, debt restructuring, project finance, distribution & sales representation laws and contracts, government bids & contracts, and public-private partnerships.
Mr. Céspedes chaired the Firm’s Corporate Practice Group from 2002 to 2018. He is ranked as one of Puerto Rico's Leading Attorneys in the Corporate/Commercial field by the international publication Chambers & Partners in both its Global and Latin America Guides. He is also ranked as a Highly Regarded attorney in Banking, Capital Markets and M&A by IFLR1000, the international guide to the world's leading financial and corporate law firms. He is also ranked in the Corporate and M&A Law field of The Best Lawyers in Puerto Rico guide.
Before joining the Firm in 1993, he worked as law clerk to then Chief Judge Juan M. Pérez-Giménez of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, and as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice, selected as part of the Attorney General's Honors Program. He also served as Deputy Director and General Counsel of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington, D.C., and as Legal Counsel to Governor Rafael Hernández Colón.
Mr. Céspedes serves as President of the Board of Trustees of Universidad del Sagrado Corazón; as a member of the Board of Trustees of Centro Para Puerto Rico Fundación Sila M. Calderón, and as member of the Board of Directors of Grupo Guayacán, Inc., dedicated to invest in Puerto Rico's local entrepreneurial system. He also serves as Puerto Rico Liaison to the Corporate Laws Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. In May 2024 Mr. Céspedes concluded a twelve-year term as member of the Board of Directors of Corporación La Fondita de Jesús, including seven years as its Chairman, a not-for-profit organization that provides assistance to the homeless and other vulnerable communities.
Representative Transactions
His experience spans a wide range of practice areas. Some of his representative transactions include:
- Working in major corporate acquisition transactions in Puerto Rico, such as America Móvil's purchase of Puerto Rico Telephone Company, Liberty Cable's acquisition of OneLink, Hub International's purchase of Carrión, Laffitte & Casellas' stock, the sale of Puerto Rico television assets by Univision to Liberman Media Group, the sales of EDIC College and Columbia Central University stock, and the sale of the San Lucas Guayama Hospital, as well as major corporate reorganizations (Kraft/Mondelez, Pfizer, Covidien and Medtronic, amongst others).
- Leading the team of Firm attorneys that assisted Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico LLC (“Metropistas”), an Abertis/Goldman Sachs consortium that was awarded a concession to operate and maintain two major toll roads in Puerto Rico. This is the first public-private partnership project developed under the Puerto Rico Public Private Partnerships Act of 2009. He has also worked on all of Metropistas’ debt financing transactions.
- Serving as bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel in bond issuances of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its agencies and instrumentalities, such as Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority, Puerto Rico Municipal Finance Agency, Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority, Puerto Rico Infrastructure Finance Agency, Puerto Rico Industrial, Tourist, Educational, Medical and Environmental Control Facilities Financing Authority (AFICA) and Puerto Rico Public Finance Corporation.
- Counseling AmeriNational Community Services, servicer of GDB Debt Recovery Authority, in the sale and restructuring of debt issued by the Puerto Rico government, its instrumentalities and municipalities.
Practices
- Act 60
- Antitrust
- Aviation and Aerospace
- Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring
- Corporate
- Corporate & Commercial Finance
- Cuba
- Distribution & Franchising
- Government Affairs & Public Policy
- Infrastructure/Public-Private Partnerships
- International & Cross Border Transactions
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Nonprofit Organizations
- PROMESA Task Force
- Securities & Public Finance
News & Publications
News
Publications
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Health Care Alert
- An McV Litigation & Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Health Care Alert
- An McV Health Care Alert
- An McV Health Care Alert
- An McV Health Care Alert
- An McV Health Care Alert
- An McV Securities Practice Team Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Health Care Alert
- An McV Health Care Alert
- An McV Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Health Care Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Health Care Practice Team Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Tax & Health Care Alert
- An McV PROMESA Task Force Alert
- An McV Corporate & Tax Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV PROMESA Task Force Alert
- McV Cuba Practice Team Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV PROMESA Task Force Alert
- Puerto Rico P3 Authority Issues Request for Public Comments on Transformation of the Electric SystemAn McV Infrastructure & Public-Private Partnerships Practice Team Alert
- An McV Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships Practice Team Alert
- An McV Infrastructure and Private-Public Partnerships Alert
- An McV Corporate & Health Care Alert
- An McV Government Affairs & Financial Institutions Practice Team Alert
- An McV Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An Energy & Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Government Affairs and Energy Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV International & Cross Border Transactions Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- McV News
- An McV Tax Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- An McV Government Affairs and Tax Alert
- An McV Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Government Affairs and Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Bankruptcy & Debt Restructuring Alert
- An McV Securities & Tax Alert
- An McV Government Affairs Alert
- McV News
- An McV Corporate Alert
- An McV Corporate Alert
- Retail Consumer Laws,
- Government Affairs,
Member, Policy Committee
Chairman, Pro-Bono Committee
Leader, Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Team
Bar Admissions
- Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
- Pennsylvania
Education
Bachelor's Degree, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
J.D., Columbia Law School
Memberships
Puerto Rico Bar Association