Transactions

Patagonia Land Trust, a U.S. non-profit private entity, has donated to the Republic of Argentina the funds to acquire approximately 61,000 hectares, for the creation of a National Park. The land was purchased from private owners, and corresponds mostly to a property known as Monte León, located in the eastern region of the Province of Santa Cruz. The property limits with the Atlantic Ocean, and the creation of the Monte León National Park will allow the protection of the typical Patagonian landscape and the endangered wildlife in the area, which includes penguin and sea-lion colonies. Monte León National Park shall be the first national park on the Atlantic coast of Argentina. The funds donated to acquire the property were placed into a trust, and Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, an Argentine non-profit entity dedicated to the conservation of wildlife and the environment, acted as Trustee. The donation was made to the Republic of Argentina through the Administración Nacional de Parques, the governmental entity in charge of the administration of all national parks in Argentina. The donation was made establishing the permanent obligation to create and maintain a National Park on the donated land. Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal, led by partner Sebastián M. Iribarne, acted as Argentine counsel for Patagonia Land Trust. Associates Fermín Castro Madero and Ignacio Torino among other associates participated in the structuring of the different stages of the deal, which included the purchase of several properties, structuring of the trust, designing the terms and conditions of the donation, and the analysis of many public law issues.

After three years of work, MasterCard International and Argencard S.A. reached an agreement, by which Argencard S.A. remained as exclusive licensee of the MasterCard brand for Argentina and Uruguay. The firm represented Argencard S.A. The new License Agreement and Settlement Agreement, which was signed in Miami, provides for a three-year extension of the exclusivity right enjoyed by Argencard S.A., and comprises exclusivity in respect of the issuance, "acquiring" (registration of merchants) and processing of the MasterCard cards in Argentina and Uruguay. MasterCard International shall also be able to grant a direct issuing license in favor of a select group of banks. In addition, a commercial agreement was reached concerning the management and operations of the "Maestro" debit card. Héctor A Mairal, Martín Campbell and Alejandro C D'Onofrio worked on this transaction.