National Partner
Languages spoken
English | French | Spanish
Awilda Alcántara-Bourdier leads the Corporate Practice Group in the firm’s Santo Domingo office and advises multinational companies, investment funds and leading Dominican business groups on their most significant transactions in the Dominican Republic, from the approximately US$950 million acquisition of Cemex Dominicana to Live Nation’s acquisition of the Dominican Republic’s leading live entertainment business. She is ranked Band 2 for Corporate/Commercial in the Dominican Republic by both Chambers Global and Chambers Latin America.
Her practice covers acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, capital investments and asset-backed financing, as well as the shareholder and governance arrangements that keep owners aligned after closing. Clients rely on her to structure and negotiate share and asset purchase agreements, shareholders’ agreements, bylaws and investment agreements, to coordinate cross-border deal teams, and to secure the regulatory approvals Dominican transactions frequently require, particularly in free zone manufacturing and medical devices, construction materials, financial services and entertainment.
Drawing on her own experience as a board member, Awilda advises boards and shareholders on fiduciary duties, governance frameworks and compliance, including the corporate criminal liability regime for legal entities introduced by the Dominican Republic’s new Penal Code (Law 74-25, as amended by Law 44-26). She is the author of a forthcoming practical guide to corporate governance and fiduciary duties for Dominican board members. She is completing the postgraduate program in Corporate Criminal Liability, Forensics and Compliance in International and National Frameworks at the Universidad de Valladolid, Spain.
She is a director and board secretary of a regulated microfinance bank and serves on the Board of Directors of Instituto OMG, a leading advanced education institution in the Dominican Republic. She has taught mergers and acquisitions in the Master’s Program in Business Law and International Litigation offered jointly by the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, and speaks and writes frequently on corporate law and governance.
Advised Administradora de Fondos de Inversión Popular (AFI Popular), a subsidiary of Grupo Popular, and a group of other Dominican strategic investors on their partnership with Cementos Progreso Holdings in the approximately US$950 million acquisition of Cemex Dominicana, including its integrated cement plant, ready-mix, aggregates and marine terminal operations and its export business to Haiti.
Represented Live Nation Entertainment in its acquisition of a controlling interest in the concert, entertainment and ticketing business developed by Saymon Díaz (SD Concerts), the Dominican Republic’s leading live entertainment company, including its operations in Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Colombia. Led due diligence and the negotiation of the share purchase agreement, shareholders’ agreement and related non-compete, consulting and employment agreements establishing the joint venture structure and continues to advise on post-closing matters.
Represented Steris Corporation in its US$33.6 million acquisition of substantially all the assets of a Dominican free zone company providing sterilization services for medical devices, including the assignment of its free zone lease, the construction of additional facilities, and the free zone, health, environmental, customs and controlled substance permits required to operate.
Acted as Dominican counsel to Amergent Capital Limited in the approximately US$49 million sale of its 100% indirect interest in Contact Center Dominicana, S.A., a provider of medical support call center services, in a transaction involving the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Panama and Delaware.
Represented Parque Industrial y Zona Franca Santo Domingo, S.A. in the sale of the free zone park in Haina to a local investment fund through the sale of all of its shares, including the due diligence and the title regularization of the park’s real estate required to close.
Advising Caterpillar Financial Services and Caterpillar Crédito, S.A. de C.V. on the structuring and securing of approximately 100 asset-backed heavy equipment financings each year in the Dominican Republic, including the migration of its entire Dominican collateral portfolio to the electronic registry created by the 2023 Movable Collateral Law.
Advising Carib Solar Solutions, Ltd. on the assignment of its US$11 million solar financing credit portfolio to a trust administered by Fiduciaria Popular, S.A., an innovative structure for the Dominican distributed solar market.
Selected Landmark Transactions
Led the team acting as legal counsel to César Iglesias, S.A. in its initial public offering of 38.7 million new common shares (30% of its capital), approved by the Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores in April 2022, and placed on the Bolsa de Valores de la República Dominicana in August 2023 for approximately US$88 million, the first initial public offering (IPO) of its kind on the Dominican securities market.
Represented the principal shareholders of Banco León in its integration with Centro Financiero BHD, S.A., creating Centro Financiero BHD León, S.A. The merger, the largest transaction in the Dominican financial sector at the time, established the country’s second largest privately held bank, with assets of RD$182 billion (approximately US$4.2 billion).
Represented Japan Tobacco International in its acquisition of a 50% stake in La Tabacalera, a Dominican tobacco company operating as a joint venture with the Dominican government.
Member, Board of Directors, Instituto OMG
Member, Asociación Dominicana de Promoción y Protección de la Libre Competencia
Ranked Band 2 for Corporate/Commercial, Dominican Republic, by Chambers Global 2026 and Chambers Latin America 2027; ranked by Chambers for 16 years
Rated Highly Regarded by IFLR1000 for banking and M&A, Dominican Republic