US law firm Robert Wray and Mexico’s SAI Derecho & Economía have formed a strategic alliance to expand both firms’ cross-border capabilities.

The agreement will enable the two to offer a wider range of services in transactional and cross-border matters between the US and Mexico, by combining their complementary expertise.

The partnership will be led by head of SAI’s corporate law group and Robert Wray member Mariano Gomezperalta.

Discussions between the two firms began in 2018 and after working on several projects together, the alliance was formalised this month, Gomezperalta tells GTR.

Although each firm will maintain its own practice areas, we expect we will work together in transactional matters involving the US and Mexico. In this short time period, we have already successfully closed several multi-million dollar aircraft finance transactions in which our combined team acted as US and Mexico counsel,” he adds.

SAI specialises in the areas of corporate law, administrative litigation, international trade and investment banking, and Robert Wray has focused expertise in structured finance transactions, export credit agency financings and aviation finance.

Robert Wray previously acted as legal advisor to the US Export-Import Bank (US Exim) when it guaranteed €151mn of financing to Turkish airline operator SunExpress for the delivery of five Boeing 737-800 aircraft in 2016. The previous year, it also represented the bank when Vietnam Airlines secured US$589mn of US Exim-backed financing for the purchase of four Boeing 787-9 aircraft.