J+Legal advised the Paulo Duarte family and Paulo Duarte Group on two consecutive operations that mark a new phase in the trajectory of the Portuguese logistics group. In the first operation, ICG entered the capital of Transportes Paulo Duarte through a minority stake of 33.5%, reinforcing the investment in the operations, fleet, infrastructure, technology and service capabilities of the group throughout the Iberian Peninsula. The advisory involved the corporate transformation, negotiation of the investment agreement and shareholders' agreement, and the issuance of preferred shares, while simultaneously ensuring the continuity of the family ownership of the group, which continues to be led by Co-CEOs Gustavo Paulo Duarte and António Paulo Duarte.
The Paulo Duarte Group was advised by Interpath, while ICG was advised by Uría Menéndez. In the second operation, with the new shareholder in the capital, J+Legal advised the Paulo Duarte Group on the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Spanish company Barquín y Otxoa, a company with over 40 years of experience in temperature-controlled goods transport and logistics, in a transaction that also involved the refinancing of the acquired company.
This integration reinforces one of the three core segments of the Paulo Duarte Group — temperature-controlled product transport — and with this operation, the group will operate a fleet of approximately 2,500 vehicles. For Barquín y Otxoa, the legal advisory was handled by Teralia, and Interpath's Restructuring and M&A teams in Spain also participated in the operation.
In both operations, José Diogo Horta Osório (Partner) and Rui Bello da Silva (Senior Associate) coordinated the entire process, with support from Manuel Bourbon Ribeiro (Trainee Lawyer) and the tax advisory team led by Jaime Carvalho Esteves (Partner) and Manuel da Gama Quaresma (Senior Associate). Founded in 1946, the Paulo Duarte Group is a Portuguese family-owned company specializing in high-value-added goods transport, with three main segments: liquid food products, energy and chemicals, and temperature-controlled products.
