Sergio González Galán is a partner in the Corporate/Commercial Law Department of Garrigues, where he has spent his professional career. From 2004 to 2005 he worked at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (New York) as an International Associate. Member of the Garrigues ESG Committee. Sergio coordinates Garrigues’ corporate governance practice and advises some of the main Spanish listed and unlisted companies. He has twice won the ILO Client Choice Award in Spain, in the area of corporate governance. He also specializes in mergers and acquisitions in a wide range of industries (telecommunications, media, technology, energy, retail, etc.) and has been consistently recognized by legal directories (for example, Lawyer of the Year in Spain: Communications).
Sergio holds a Degree in Law and Business Counseling from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICADE E-1), a specialist qualification in Telecommunications Law from Instituto de Postgrado ICAI-ICADE, and degrees in Politics and Sociology from Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
He is a member of the Madrid Bar Association (ICAM) and the International Bar Association (IBA).
Sergio González Galán has been a partner in the Corporate/Commercial Law Department of Garrigues since 2010, where he has spent his entire professional career. Between 2004 and 2005 he worked at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (New York) as an International Associate.
Sergio coordinates Garrigues’ corporate governance practice and advises some of the main Spanish listed and unlisted companies. Among other recognition, he has twice received the ILO Client Choice Award in Spain (2021 and 2022). Sergio is a member of the Corporate Governance Committee of Club de la Excelencia en Sostenibilidad and represents the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations (CEOE) at Business Europe and Business at OECD (BIAC) in corporate governance matters.
Sergio also specializes in mergers and acquisitions, where he has advised local and multinational companies on domestic and international deals in various industries:
- In the telecommunications and audiovisual sector, Sergio has advised both international companies seeking to set up in Spain and Spanish companies on their international expansion, advising on all sector-related regulatory aspects. He has also participated in a wide range of sale and purchase transactions, mergers, joint ventures and IPOs involving some of the sector’s leading players (telephony, fiber optics, satellite, television).
- In the energy sector, he has played a pivotal role in renewable energy-related sale and purchase transactions (wind, photovoltaic and thermosolar plants). Sergio has also advised on the creation of the joint venture for the development of the largest network of fast and ultrafast charging stations for electric vehicles in Spain and Portugal.
- In the retail sector, he has advised some of the main retail chains operating in Spain on sale and purchase transactions and on the development of their franchise systems, at both national and international level.
- He has received multiple accolades from the main legal directories (Legal 500, Best Lawyers, etc.) both in the general M&A area and in specific sectors.
Sergio is a regular speaker at seminars and conferences, Master’s Degrees and postgraduate courses on corporate governance, telecommunications and audiovisual media (ICADE, Centro de Estudios Garrigues, Universidad Europea de Madrid, among others).
He is a member of the Madrid Bar Association (ICAM) and the International Bar Association (IBA).
Languages: Spanish and English
Member of the Garrigues ESG Committee.
- Degree in Law and Business Counseling. Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE E-1).
- Specialist qualification in Telecommunications Law, Instituto de Postgrado ICAI-ICADE, Universidad Pontificia de Comillas.
- Degree in Politics, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
- Degree in Sociology (with distinction), Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
has taught classes on various Master’s Degree and postgraduate courses in Corporate Governance, and Telecommunications and Audiovisual Media Law (ICADE, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Universidad Carlos III, among others).
He currently teaches classes in Corporate Governance on the LL.M. in International Transactions, on the Executive Program in Corporate Compliance, and on the ESG Executive Program at Centro de Estudios Garrigues.ç
Sergio has chaired and spoken at several sessions of various IBA Conferences:
- Speaker: “Navigating the path between a rock and a hard place: the role of a target director in distressed M&A”. Annual Conference, Sydney, 2017.
- Speaker: “Current disclosure issues in annual reports – Too much but not enough”. Annual Corporate Governance Conference, Frankfurt, 2017.
- Speaker: “Going, going, gone - running a European M&A auction”. European Corporate and Private M&A Conference, Paris, 2018.
- Co-chair: “European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other development and multilateral entities: what corporate governance do they impose on themselves and on clients?”. Annual Corporate Governance Conference, Frankfurt, 2018.
- Speaker: “Governance, Stewardship and Activism”. Annual International Mergers & Acquisitions Conference, New York, 2019.
- Co-chair: “Corporate governance at state-backed companies”. Annual Corporate Governance Conference, Frankfurt, 2019.
- Speaker: “Developments in Public Company M&A and Securities Law”. Annual International Mergers & Acquisitions Conference, New York, 2022.
- Madrid Bar Association (ICAM).
- International Bar Association (IBA).
Sergio received the Client Choice Award in Spain in both 2021 and 2022, in the area of Corporate Governance.
In addition, Sergio has been recognized by:
- Who’s Who Legal as a National Leader in Iberia – Corporate Governance 2021.
- Legal 500 as one of Garrigues’ leading lawyers in Corporate and M&A, where Garrigues is ranked Band 1.
- Legal 500 as one of Garrigues’ leading lawyers in the Retail sector, where Garrigues is ranked Band 1.
- Legal 500 as one of Garrigues’ leading lawyers in the TMT sector, where Garrigues is ranked in Band 1.
- Best Lawyers in Spain, as one of the leading lawyers in the Communications sector since the ranking was first published in 2008, and was named Communications Lawyer of the Year (Spain) in 2012.
- Best Lawyers in Spain as one of the leading lawyers in Corporate and M&A.
- Best Lawyers in Spain as one of the leading lawyers in the Information Technology sector.
- Euromoney’s Expert Guides as a leading lawyer in the Telecommunications sector.
Co-author of:
- “Perspectivas del Gobierno Corporativo para la Economía Española” (Perspectives on Corporate Governance for the Spanish Economy), coordinated by Fundación de Estudios Bursátiles y Financieros (Civitas - Thomson Reuters, Madrid, 2015).
- “Estudios sobre la Ley General de la Comunicación Audiovisual” (Studies on the General Audiovisual Communications Law), coordinated by Miguel Azpitarte and Carmen Chinchilla (Thomson Reuters, Madrid, 2011).
- “Telecommunications: Estudios sobre dominio público y propiedad privada” (Telecommunications: Studies on Public Domain and Private Property), coordinated by Carmen Chinchilla (Marcial Pons, Madrid, 2000).
He has also written numerous articles in the general press and specialist publications.
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