Maíra Isabel Saldanha Rodrigues

 

PRACTICE AREAS
Competition/Antitrust; International Trade

 

EDUCATION

  • Graduated from University of Brasília LL.B program in 2017;
  • Graduated from New York University (NYU) LL.M program in 2019, as the youngest Brazilian lawyer to join NYU’s 2018/2019 LL.M Program;
  • Postgraduated in Eu Competition Law from King’s College London.

 

CAREER
Maíra Isabel Saldanha Rodrigues specializes in Competition and Antitrust Law. Her practice focuses on merger control issues, design and implementation of antitrust compliance programs, and anticompetitive practice investigations.

Maíra has experience representing and advising clients from industries such as chemical, technological, pharmaceutical, food and beverages, and energy, on broad range of cross-border M&A matters, complex merger cases, and negotiation of remedies, as well as assisting clients in antitrust matters related to dealings with competitors, exchange of competitively sensitive information and dealings in the supply chain.

Furthermore, Maíra also represents and advises clients in investigations related to trade matters, such as antidumping, safeguards and countervailing duties. Her experience allows her to assist manufacturers, importers and exporters seeking and defending their interests before the Brazilian Foreign Trade Chamber, taking part in every stage of the investigation, from drafting change proposals to responding to the questionnaires sent out by the Subsecretariat for Commercial Defense and Public Interest.

 

MAIN CLIENTS: Hyster Yale, Gerdau Aços Longos, Shell, Total Eren, the JVs Navegantes Logística and Nordestes Logística I, II and III, and Qualicaps. [HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – NOT TO BE PUBLISHED]

 

WORK EXAMPLE
Since joining Cascione in mid-2019, Maíra Isabel Saldanha Rodrigues has closely worked with the partner Denise Junqueira in the group’s cases, in which we highlight:

  • Representing Total Eren (French leader in renewable energy) in its millionaire acquisitions of power plants from Salus FIP and Sowitec in 2022.
  • Representing the major league companies Gerdau (the largest producer of long steel in Latin America) and Shell (global energy giant) on the development of a 50/50 joint venture for solar power generation in Minas Gerais. The high-profile energy case, which was unconditionally approved by CADE’s Superintendence on July/2022, was widely publicized by the media and by CADE itself.
  • Counseling the JVs Navegantes Logística and Nordeste Logística I, II e III, formed by Raízen, Vibra (former BR Distribuidora) and Ipiranga, on all dimensions of antitrust risk (counsel on the full scope of antitrust and competition law issues), advising the directors and the board on complex and strategic conduct matters; training to address/deter anticompetitive conduct risks. [CONFIDENTIAL – NOT TO BE PUBLISHED]
  • Providing highly complex preventive antitrust consultancy to Hyster-Yale, Comexport, Sherwin-Williams and Qualicaps on a regular basis, devising strategies together with CEOs, CFOs and general counsels, to address/deter anticompetitive conduct risks (including supporting them on internal investigations), and to device best commercial strategies vis-à-vis potential antitrust risks. [HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – NOT TO BE PUBLISHED]
  • Advising Gerdau (the largest producer of long steel in Latin America) in the sale of the terminal Terminal Marítimo Gerdau to Intermarítima.
  • Representing Fundo Bordeaux (a major investor in Brazil) in the investment of more than BRL 2.5 billion in the acquisition of two major telecom powerhouse players in Paraná State, Sercomtel and Copel – acquisitions that create the strongest verticalized player in the state, and it is expected to raise particular attention from competitors and from CADE, given the authority’s increasing enforcement policy on the telecom sector). Moreover, as regards Copel’s acquisition, the advice also included drafting an Antitrust Protocol and the participation of the team as members of the merger’s “Clean Team”; [CONFIDENTIAL – NOT TO BE PUBLISHED]
  • Representing Comexport (Brazil’s largest trading company), in its acquisition of Cisa Trading’s client lists related to imports solutions and scrap metal businesses. A case in which the team was able to devise a successful strategy on relevant market definition to avoid the deal’s characterization as a non-fast track / complex deal by CADE, that resulted in the submission of a fast-track proceeding that was cleared by CADE’s lower body in 20 days. [CONFIDENTIAL – NOT TO BE PUBLISHED]

Besides her work at Cascione, Maíra worked in relevant cases while at Trench Rossi Watanabe Advogados (Associated with Baker Mackenzie) between 2015- early May. 2018 including, among others:

  • (i) FedEx’s acquisition of TNT; (ii) Abbot’s acquisition of St. Jude Medical and Alere; (iii) AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner; (iv) Total Eren’s solar plants acquisition; (v) Takeda’s sale of Multilab to NC Group; (vi) Unilever’s sale of AdeS, a soy beverage brand, to the Coca-Cola Company – cases in which she worked closely with Denise Junqueira; as well as
  • (vii) Platinum Equity Group acquisition of Johnson & Johnson’ LifeScan business; (v) ABB acquisition of GE Industrial Solutions; and (vi) Air Liquide’s intervention as interested third party in White Martins/Linde merger – cases in which she worked closely with Francisco Todorov and Adriana Giannini (at the time, partners at Trench Rossi Watanabe Advogados, and currently partners at Tauil & Chequer Advogados).

 

VOLUNTEER WORK

  • Maíra leads WIA’s interview program named “WIA Talks”. In the program, she conducts monthly interviews with high-level participants – such as Adriana Dantas (Chair of IDB’s Sanctions Committee, Member of Petrobras Integrity Board and Chair of Compliance Subcommittee and Anti-Corruption Committee at IBA); and Carol Conway (Head of Regulatory Affairs at Grupo UOL/Pag Seguro) – on topics related to gender equality. [CONFIDENTIAL – NOT TO BE PUBLISHED]
  • Maíra is part of WIA’s podcast, in which she interviews female antitrust leaders in Brazil (such as CADE’s Commissioner Lenisa Prado) and globally (such as Bhawna Gulati, Joint Director (Law) of the Indian Competition Authority, and Professor Eleanor Fox, NYU Law School).

 

PUBLICATIONS

  • Co-authored the paper “Controle de Estruturas: Estatísticas do Tribunal do CADE em 2020 e possibilidade de mudanças em 2021. Estadão, published in January 2021.
  • Co-authored the paper “The Future Of Merger Review: New Perspectives For “Associative Agreements”, Ibrac, published in Aug. 2020;
  • Co-authored the paper “Protocolo antitruste: criar paper trail das ações é forma mais segura de agir”, Conjur, June 2020;
  • “UPDATE: Legal Research in Brazil,” GlobaLex, Hauser Global Law School Program at NYU School of Law, September/October 2019;
  • Contributed in the Brazilian Chapter of the Competition Litigation Comparative Guide, The Legal 500, Aug. 2019.
  • Interviewed by Getting the Deal Through – Market Intelligence, on Merger Review Updates in Brazil, Aug. 2018.
  • Co-authored the paper “How CADE’s Remedies Practice Address Vertical Concerns?”, Ibrac, Mar. 2018;

 

RECENT EVENTS

  • Ibrac – Panelist on Ibrac’s event “Divulgação dos artigos e lançamento do livro The Future of Antitrust”, panel “Mergers in the digital era: what are the changes needed?” (August 2020);
  • Swisscam Brazil – Panelist on Swisscam´s event “Open Banking: Regulatory and Competitive Impacts” (September 2019);

 

RECOGNITION:

  • Rising Star in Competition and Antitrust in Brazil – Legal 500 (2022).