Hughes & Hughes has helped Finnish forestry company UPM sign a conditional agreement with the Uruguayan government to build a multi-billion dollar pulp mill, in what could be the largest-ever foreign investment in Uruguay.
Uruguay relied on in-house counsel for the deal, which was signed on 7 November.
While the agreement could increase Uruguay’s GDP by as much as 2 percentage points, the deal is conditional. UPM will only invest the US$2.4 billion if it decides sufficient progress has been made on the construction of a railway connecting the mill to surrounding areas and national ports by February 2020. Uruguay’s port administration will also tender the development of a port terminal, which is expected to cost US$600 million.
If UPM agrees to go ahead with the project, the government will grant the mill free trade zone status, exempting its operations from any tax normally payable to the Uruguayan state.
UPM already has one pulp mill in Uruguay, which began operations in 2007. It is located in Fray Bentos, in western Uruguay, and has an annual production of over 1.3 billion tons of pulp.
Hughes & Hughes is regular counsel to UPM. In 2009, the firm assisted UPM acquire the Uruguayan assets of Finnish counterparts Finns Botnia and its partner Metsäliitto in a deal worth US$2.4 billion.
Hughes & Hughes Partners Haroldo Espalter and Héctor Ferreira, and associates Mariana Estrade, Tania Cavallo, Clara Villaamil and Mercedes Barros were counsels to UPM.
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