ANA uses two of three
trusted firms to avoid having to repeatedly explain its business to
new external lawyers, says the company's head of legal
Francisco Sebastian
Given that it serves around 60 airlines and handles
approximately 40 million passengers a year, airport operator
ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal has to be prepared to face an extremely
diverse range of legal challenges, according to Francisco
Sebastian, head of legal and litigation affairs at the
company's headquarters in Lisbon. He adds that, as a result,
the company has "developed a very professional in-house legal
department to face such issues – day-to-day cases range from
financial and technical matters, and relations with communities, to
corporate and compliance cases."
Tourism growth
ANA operates ten airports – in mainland Portugal, the Azores
and Madeira – employs more than 3,000 people and has an
annual turnover of more than €500 million. As part of the
country's sale of state-owned assets to cut debt and raise
funds within a bailout deal with the European Union and the
International Monetary Fund, the French construction company and
airport operator Vinci bought a 95 per cent stake in ANA in 2012
for €3 billion. ANA is experiencing continual growth as
Portugal's popularity as a destination for air travellers
increases. For example, annual passenger arrivals at Porto airport
reached a total of nine million for the first time in 2016.
ANA was previously a public company, so its relationship with
public authorities has changed, Sebastian says. At the same time,
the integration of Vinci means that both companies have benefitted
from each other's experience as large operators, and this has
been one of the positive aspects of the relationship, according to
Sebastian.
'Trusted firms'
"Our main focus is corporate affairs and, for this, we engage
the services of external law firms," says Sebastain. "We
use two of three trusted firms to avoid explaining everything to a
new firm each time, so in a way they are specialised in us and our
legal framework." He adds that the company greatly values its
law firms' knowledge of the company and their ability to
deliver promptly. Among the firms ANA works with on a regular basis
are Vieira de Almeida and CMS.
An in-depth and long-standing relationship with its legal
advisers is important to ANA. "Some law firms have been
working with us since the very beginning, so we grew up
together," says Sebastian. "I don't want legal advice
that I don't need." He adds that working with familiar
firms is the easiest way to deal with the complex claims and
matters the company faces.
Costs important
"We need to interact with the firm, to engage easily and
quickly," explains Sebastian. "There is no time for
procrastination, we need the work done and in the timeframe
required – costs are also important, we need to get the best
service for the right fee." He adds that competition in the
Portuguese legal market is very intense. "Law firms are very
sharp and they try to get good companies like ours [as clients];
this is one of the reasons we give priority to certain firms and
have a good partnership with them – I want my people in the
legal team to be focused on our day-to-day business and when I need
a different opinion for a more complex case then I will seek an
external firm," says Sebastian. "I outsource most of our
important corporate proceedings – we have a lot of
administrative procedures, licensing matters and contracts, which
are all carried out in-house, but when we have a complex issue and
I need an opinion, I will discuss it with several law
firms."
Law firm partnering
Partnering with external counsel is a valuable exercise for
ANA's legal team, argues Sebastian. "I greatly value the
interaction with external law firms, which is very good for our
business, because we receive input and we think together; it is
also very good for the in-house people here, because they gain
experience and maturity." He says the kind of cases the
company outsources include litigation involving customers as well
as stakeholders – Sebastian argues that airports are good for
the economy, but acknowledges that sometimes they are not good for
the environment or for some local communities because "we need
land and we have to expropriate, so there can be a lot of
problems".
Francisco Sebastian is head of legal and litigation
affairs at ANA
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