Demarest announces arrival of two new partners to the Energy practice

Henrique Reis and Maria Beatriz Grella Vieira join the firm with a team of four associates in SP and MG with a focus on Regulatory and M&A activities

Demarest Advogados, one of the largest and most respected full-service law firms in Latin America, announces the hiring of Henrique Reis and Maria Beatriz Grella Vieira as new partners to strengthen its Energy practice area, with a focus on Regulatory and M&A/Corporate Law, respectively.

With 15 years of experience in matters related to regulation in the electricity sector, Henrique advises domestic and international clients on complex regulatory and contractual issues, in addition to structuring business models in the energy generation, distribution, transmission and commercialization segments, including auctions, free market, self-production and distributed generation. He also works on strategic matters of business groups before regulatory and planning bodies, such as Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) and the Ministry of Mines and Energy, as well as in judicial litigation.

Henrique holds a LL.M. in Business Law from FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas), a Law degree from UFV (Federal University of Viçosa) and is in course for an MBA in Finance from Ibmec (Brazilian Institute of Capital Markets).

Maria Beatriz has worked for 17 years in the areas of Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions, the last 8 of which focused on the electricity sector, advising companies (retailers, generators, transmission companies and investors) on M&A transactions, corporate and contractual matters, in addition to working on the structuring of self-generation and distributed energy generation projects.

The new partner holds a law degree from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie and a postgraduate degree in Business Administration from FGV, with one of the stages of her specialization course being completed at the University of Cologne, Germany. At the beginning of her career, while still a student, Maria Beatriz did her first internship at Demarest.

“Our goal is to contribute to the expansion of the firm’s Energy area, a sector that is booming and likely to remain as such. The advancement of artificial intelligence and the growth of the data center market in Brazil, for example, are directly related to the increase in energy consumption, which should bring many opportunities in the transactional area”, says Maria Beatriz, also highlighting the greater demand from companies on topics related to new technologies, auctions, and concession renewals.

Henrique draws attention to the potential for new business with the growth of renewable energy and natural gas at a time when economic and sustainable alternatives are being discussed in the transformation of the country’s energy matrix.

“While the expansion of renewables (wind and solar) puts Brazil in the spotlight on the international stage, it also poses challenges due to the very characteristics of these energy sources”, he says. “This scenario requires complex and specialized sector planning, in addition to opening doors to new storage technologies, creating greater demand for specialized advice, such as that provided by our team, both in participating in auctions and in supporting clients in thermoelectric and hydroelectric projects. Working at Demarest at this time of change in the sector means maintaining the high standard of service to clients and further strengthening the legal and regulatory activities of such a longstanding firm”, he adds.

Along with the two new partners, four associates specialized in the energy sector join the firm. They are Luana Ferraz, Louise West, William Mendes and Arthur Plotz.

Henrique will be based in Belo Horizonte with Arthur, a regulatory lawyer, while Maria Beatriz will work in the São Paulo office with Luana and Louise, transactional lawyers, and William, on regulatory matters.

Paulo Coelho da Rocha, Managing Partner at Demarest, emphasizes that the arrival of the two new partners and the team is in line with the firm’s strategic planning, which envisages further expanding legal advice in priority sectors, such as energy, which in turn allows for the development of new business and growth in the country.

“The expectation of new auctions, the approval of specific regulations for 2025 and the potential for expansion of the energy segment reinforce the need to expand the area, amplifying the experience of the multidisciplinary team that works at the firm, in addition to bringing our legal services even closer to the BH region”, he says. “Maria Beatriz and Henrique have in-depth technical knowledge of the sector and the transformations underway, and the work of both will further increase our participation in complex and prominent operations in the sector, maintaining the standard of excellence for which the firm is recognized”, adds Paulo, who is also a partner in Demarest’s Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Law practice areas.

With the arrival of Henrique and Maria Beatriz, Demarest now has 98 partners working in more than 50 areas of law to serve more than 1,500 clients in Brazil and abroad.