"Santiago Medina Zavala inspires confidence and demonstrates strong technical expertise, providing valuable support for decision-making within the company." Chambers & Partners (2027)

Santiago Medina Z. is a Partner at Nader Hayaux Goebel whose practice is anchored in the energy and power sector, covering the full transaction lifecycle from project development, structuring and regulatory matters through financing, M&A, and financial restructuring. His work spans conventional and renewable generation, natural gas infrastructure, transmission and distribution, and the broader energy transition.

He advises on domestic and cross-border transactions across infrastructure, energy, transportation, water, and social sectors. His clients include financial institutions, development banks, governmental entities, national and multinational companies, and private equity and infrastructure funds in project structuring, government procurement, public-private partnerships, joint ventures, strategic alliances, acquisitions, project finance, and restructurings and workouts. He has negotiated and advised on material project agreements including PPAs, offtake contracts, EPC and O&M agreements.

As a member of the firm’s Aviation Practice Group, Santiago advises banks and institutional lessors in the leasing and secured financing of commercial and private aircraft, including sale-leaseback, JOLCO and PDP financings, and represents creditors in airline restructurings, most notably as counsel to the largest ad hoc group of bondholders in the Aeromexico Chapter 11 proceedings.

He collaborates with the firm’s Sustainability and ESG Transition Working Group. Prior to his current role, he served as a Visiting Attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in New York (2013–2014), where he participated in M&A and energy and infrastructure transactions.

Santiago earned his law degree from Universidad Iberoamericana and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the Mexican Bar Association (Barra Mexicana, Colegio de Abogados), the ICC Energy Commission, and the American Bar Association. His practice has been recognized by leading international legal directories, which highlight his experience in energy, infrastructure, project finance, and complex cross-border transactions.

 

Work Highlights

Energy and Natural Resources

  • Represented a syndicate of 13 financial institutions in the USD 2.5 billion financing to Energía Mayakan (ENGIE Group) for the development, construction and operation of a ~694 km natural gas pipeline expansion parallel to the existing Mayakan system, primarily serving CFE,one of the largest project finance transactions in Mexico’s energy sector.
  • Represented Bancomext in the financing to Vega Solar 6 (Atlas Renewable Energy) for the Guajiro Solar Project (126.5 MW) in Hidalgo, with CFE Suministrador as offtaker.
  • Represented Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in two credit facilities to OPDEnergy subsidiaries for solar plants in Aguascalientes (29.67 MW) and Coahuila (82.5 MW), with CFE Suministrador as offtaker, and in a subsequent change of control to Riverstone.
  • Represented Citibank, Citibanamex and institutional investors in a USD 347 million financing to a BlackRock affiliate for expansion of coal transport and port logistics facilities at Lázaro Cárdenas Port supplying the CFE Petacalco power plant.

 

Reestructurings and Workouts

  • Represented an ad hoc group of creditors under a USD 710 million loan facility in the restructuring of a 526-MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant in Texas supplying electricity and capacity to the Mexican market and CFE, and the related Chapter 11 proceedings.

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Represented Macquarie Asset Management in the acquisition of Reden Solar from InfraVia Capital Partners and Eurazeo for €2.5 billion, a 762 MW operational solar portfolio with a 15 GW development pipeline, including three operational projects in Mexico.
  • Represented a multinational company in the bid to acquire Atlas Renewable Energy from Actis.
  • Advised one of the largest global infrastructure asset managers in the bid to acquire an interest in an entity holding Sempra’s LNG business, IEnova’s infrastructure platform, and their renewables portfolio.
  • Advised Pemex in the unwinding of its joint venture with IEnova in Gasoductos de Chihuahua for USD 1.325 billion.

Infrastructure, PPPS & Project Finance

  • Represented a syndicate of lenders in the restructuring of facilities for Concesionaria AT-AT (Aleatica subsidiary) for the 40-year construction, operation and maintenance of the Atizapán-Atlacomulco toll road in the State of Mexico.
  • Represented Desarrolladora y Operadora de Infraestructura de Oaxaca (GIA+A subsidiary) in the total voluntary redemption of bonds “DOIXCB 15” and “DOIXCB 15U” in the context of refinancing its federal prison project in Oaxaca, for a total of MXN 3,969 million.
  • Represented Suez Medio Ambiente México and Suez International in negotiations for a 37-year PPP agreement with the State Water Commission of Baja California for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the largest desalination plant in Latin America, in Rosarito, including EPC and O&M contracts.
  • Represented Banco Santander (México) and a syndicate (Banobras and Inbursa) in the financing of Concesionaria AT-AT (OHL México / Aleatica) for the Atizapán-Atlacomulco toll road.
  • Advised Several banks and financial institutions on cross-border financings secured with assets located in Mexico.
  • Advised Proparco and DEG in the USD$70 million financing of a project involving the deployment of nearly 2,852 kilometers of fiber optic cable, establishing the first fully integrated express corridor linking Querétaro (Mexico) and Phoenix (United States) via the Mexican Pacific region.

 

Aviation

  • Advised CMB Financial Leasing in the USD 730 million PDP financing of 4 A320Neo and 3 A321NX aircraft, to be sold to an Irish SPV of CMBFL and leased to Volaris.
  • Advised SMBC Aviation Capital in PDP and sale-leaseback financings of 12 A320Neo to VivaAerobus.
  • Represented the lenders and investors (SMBC, Nomura, Babcock & Brown, Natixis, NTT Finance Corporation and Development Bank of Japan) in the JOLCO financings of Aeromexico’s 787-9 Dreamliners, each for approximately USD 110 million.
  • Represented the banks and institutional lessors in the leasing and secured financing of private and commercial aircraft.