Martha Angélica Villalobos Murillo is the Partner-in-Charge of the Firm’s Chihuahua, Mexico alliance office of Wong Fleming, which is called Villalobos & Moore. Ms. Martha Villalobos has experience in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, incorporation and liquidation of companies, corporate housekeeping, corporate due diligence, public bids, governmental permitting and investment incentives, design and negotiation of contracts, including services agreements, manufacturing, distribution, supply and confidentiality agreements. She has also practiced real estate law for more than seventeen years with specialized experience in corporate, mining and real estate. In addition, she has knowledge and experience in environmental, labor, litigation and foreign trade.
Ms. Martha Villalobos has a multicultural legal practice that handles all kinds of corporate matters, with a particular emphasis on cross border transactions and foreign investment doing business in Mexico. Her mission is to provide top quality legal services with integrity and professionalism.
In the real estate area, she has experience in providing legal advice for property development, construction, national waters and agrarian matters, as well as public contracts and utilities. She has wide experience providing legal advice to multi-national organizations and has participated in many multi-jurisdictional transactions in the corporate and real estate areas, providing legal advice on planning and development of industrial facilities and commercial projects, acquisition of property between private entities and with the public sector, participation in public and private bids, design and negotiation of contracts, financing of real estate projects, real estate trusts, and purchase and sale of real estate portfolios.
In the mining industry, she has experience in the design and negotiation of exploration and exploitation contracts, securing mining concessions and compliance with obligations derived from mining concessions, assignment and renewal of mining concessions, design and negotiation of contracts for the access to superficial land, which is essential for mining exploration and exploitation, whether private, agrarian or communal land, construction contracts for the development of mining facilities and infrastructure, and services agreements with suppliers of the mining industry.
She is coauthor of the Chapters “Real Estate Foreign Investment”, “Mining” and “Commercial Contracts” of the Book “Doing Business in Mexico” published by Juris Publishing Inc. in 2001 and further publications. She is author and coauthor of many articles published in diverse magazines and other media specialized in Real Estate and Mining industries, and she has offered conferences in specialized fora in Mining and Foreign Investment.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
- Starting-up of a great number of business operations in Mexico, for clients such as Zodiac Aerospace, Beechcraft, Bloom Energy, Tristone, Driftwood Diamond Drilling, Alliance McAlpin, Visscher Caravelle.
- Represented The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the merger of two of its Mexican entities.
- Represented a French aerospace manufacturing company in the transfer of its industrial operations in Chihuahua from shelter to stand alone. Industrial operations include five industrial facilities and a labor force of more than 2,700 employees.
- Currently representing a U.S. manufacturing client in the review and negotiation of documentation for the development of a power plant to generate electricity for client’s industrial operations in the center of Mexico.
- Provided legal advice to Capstone Mining, Endeavour Silver and other companies, in connection with corporate and tax restructuring of their Mexican operations.
- Represented Capstone Mining in a US$200 MDD financing transaction and its subsequent credit extension to US$400 MDD, in the coordination and negotiation of all Mexican collateral and credit documentation.
- Represented Codiflex, a system codification, identification and packaging manufacturing company on the procurement of its trademark registration before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property.
- Provided Driftwood Diamond Drilling with management services for its personnel, including payroll, social security coverage, accounting and tax compliance services.
- Performed corporate due diligence for Minefinders for the potential acquisition of several mining projects, provided services for the drafting and negotiation of preparatory agreements, purchase options, purchase agreements and all other necessary corporate documents.
- Provided legal advice to Endeavour Silver in connection with the acquisition of shares and mining property from AuRico Gold and its Mexican subsidiaries.
- Represented Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. in general corporate matters.
- Provided legal advice to Timmins on due diligence and corporate matters for its Mexican subsidiaries as part of a syndicated financing transaction of over US$200 MDD.
- Legal advice for the joint venture between Capstone Mining and Westminster Resources.
- Legal advice on real estate matters to a great number of manufacturing clients throughout Mexico, for the acquisition, sale, lease, sale leaseback, construction and development of industrial, commercial and housing projects, condominium regime, zoning and urban development regulations, construction contracts, contracting and development of utilities and infrastructure.
- Legal representation of Beechcraft Corporation for the acquisition and development of its industrial facilities in the State of Chihuahua.
- Represented Bloom Energy Corporation in the closure of its operations in Chihuahua.
- Pro bono legal advice on real estate matters to Fechac and several local developers regarding due diligence, planning and development of housing and commercial projects, condominium regime regulation, zoning and urban development, utilities and infrastructure matters.
- Represented Capstone in the design of strategies, defense and settlement negotiation of labor lawsuits filed by more than 2/3 of its workforce in Zacatecas, Mexico.
- Preventive legal advice on labor matters and labor audits to a great number of companies, such as Minefinders, Capstone, Alliance McAlpin, Enterasys Networks, etc.
- Provided advice and assistance to Capstone through labor audits and analysis of labor risks with regards to direct and indirect workforce.
- Preparation and negotiation of confidentiality and exclusivity agreements for employees of companies such as Codiflex, Beechcraft, Química Agronómica de Mexico, Uster, etc.
- Represented Capstone in the defense of administrative procedures related to environmental liabilities generated by former mining exploitation activities carried out by third parties.
- Represented Minera Plata Real in the review of compliance with environmental regulations for its mining exploration activities.
- Legal advice on the legal procedures required to face environmental accidents to several mining and manufacturing clients.
- Preventive due diligence on environmental matters to identify risks and advice on the improvement of good environmental practices.
- Represented Minefinders Corporation in securing surface rights, as well as in the construction, development and starting of operations of the Dolores mine, the negotiation and settlement of agrarian conflicts and blockages, the negotiation of contracts for the construction of the property, environmental matters, water rights, legal advice for the relocation of the Dolores town.
- Represented Minefinders Corporation on the title search, due diligence process, drafting and negotiation of a usufruct contract for surface rights in connection with La Bolsa mining project in the State of Sonora.
- Represented Minefinders Corporation for the sale of the Dolores mine to Pan American Silver Corp.
- Legal advice to several mining companies such as Mag Silver Corp., Esperanza Resources corp., La Imperial Resources, Inc., Nayarit Gold, Inc., Newsight Resources, etc.
PRACTICE AREAS
- Corporate Law
- Real Estate Law
- Employment and Labor Law
- Tax Law
- Environmental Law
- Immigration Law
- Customs and International Trade Law
- Debt Collection
- Intellectual Property
- Mining Industry Law
ADMISSIONS
- Mexico
PROFESSIONAL HONORS, AWARDS AND ACTIVITIES
- Member of the US – Mexico Bar Association Member, King County Bar Association
- Member of the National Association of Corporate Lawyers (ANADE)
- Chair of the board of the Chihuahua Chapter of the Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists of Mexico.
LANGUAGES
- English
- Spanish
EDUCATION
- MBA, with commendation, by Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University (2008)
- Law Degree, Summa Cum Laude, by Tecnológico de Monterrey (1997)
