Energy and M&A specialist takes helm of 70-lawyer Bogotá practice

Holland & Knight has named José Vicente Zapata executive partner of its Bogotá office, the firm announced on May 4, 2026. Zapata will oversee day-to-day management of the office while continuing to lead his energy practice, which focuses on corporate, contractual, and commercial matters, with an emphasis on spin-offs and mergers and acquisitions. He succeeds Enrique Gómez Pinzón, who has served as executive partner since the office opened in 2012 and will now take the title of executive partner emeritus while continuing his corporate, M&A, finance, and international arbitration practice.

Zapata has been with Holland & Knight for nearly 12 years and co-chairs the firm’s Venezuela Focus Team, a group of partners who advise clients with interests in that country. His regulatory work covers environmental, energy, and natural resources matters, as well as corporate compliance, including the design of ethics programs and compliance with Colombia’s Sistema de Autocontrol y Gestión del Riesgo Integral de Lavado de Activos y Financiación del Terrorismo (SAGRILAFT) anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime. He also handles liability cases involving contractual and non-contractual damages.

“I look forward to continuing to strengthen our team’s offerings in advising Colombian companies and guiding international clients to navigate entry into the Colombian market.” — José Vicente Zapata, Executive Partner, Holland & Knight Bogotá

Zapata earned his LL.M. in Sustainable Development and International Business Law from McGill University in Montreal and his J.D. from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá. He has been ranked in Energy & Natural Resources: Environment by Chambers Global and Chambers Latin America since 2014, was named to The Legal 500 Latin America Hall of Fame in Environment in 2025 and 2026, and is regularly listed in The Best Lawyers in Colombia.

“I look forward to continuing to strengthen our team’s offerings in advising Colombian companies and guiding international clients to navigate entry into the Colombian market,” Zapata said in a written statement.

Bob Grammig, Holland & Knight’s chair and chief executive officer, said Zapata’s appointment was intended to focus the office on growth in Colombia and across Latin America. Gómez Pinzón said he would continue to support the office in his emeritus role.

The Bogotá office now houses nearly 70 lawyers. Its practice covers cross-border deals and international trade; mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures; oil, gas, and mining projects; environmental assessments, liability, and compliance; taxation; labor law; intellectual property, trademark, and patent registration; antitrust and consumer law; capital markets, venture capital, and private equity; international licensing and franchising; project finance and foreign investment; corporate reorganizations and financial restructurings; litigation and international arbitration; and private wealth services.

Holland & Knight’s Latin America Practice Group includes more than 200 attorneys working on cross-border M&A, joint ventures, private equity and financing transactions, and disputes involving Latin America. The firm overall counts approximately 2,200 lawyers and other professionals across 35 offices. Founded in 1889, it provides representation in litigation, corporate and finance, real estate, healthcare, and government matters.

The leadership transition comes as international firms continue to deepen their footprint in Bogotá to serve foreign investors entering Colombian energy, infrastructure, and natural resources markets, and to advise Colombian corporates pursuing transactions abroad.

Proposal would reset how banks weigh social and climate costs

The Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC) has presented a proposal to create a national system of socio-environmental prices that supervised financial institutions would apply when evaluating and analyzing private and public development projects in Colombia. The regulator argues that the country’s financial system faces the challenge of financing projects that generate long-term social returns, not only private profitability.

The proposal was unveiled in Bogotá on May 14, 2026, during the forum Precios socioambientales: una herramienta para la inversión sostenible en Colombia, hosted at the regulator’s headquarters. Participants included Superintendent of Finance César Ferrari; Daniel Schydlowsky, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Raúl Castro, professor at the Universidad de los Andes; Andrés Vera, technical vice president of Asobancaria; Ricardo Lara Manzano, director of infrastructure and energy for the Andean region at IDB Invest; and Andrés Trejos, economic studies coordinator at the SFC.

Ferrari noted that the methodology, also known as “shadow pricing,” gained prominence during the second half of the twentieth century before falling out of favor, and is now resurfacing globally as social and environmental dynamics increasingly affect business and the financial system. “The concept of ‘shadow prices’ is regaining importance because we are seeing the effects of climate change on the economy and on competition in business across all sectors,” Ferrari said.

“The concept of ‘shadow prices’ is regaining importance because we are seeing the effects of climate change on the economy and on competition in business across all sectors.” — César Ferrari, Colombian Superintendent of Finance

Schydlowsky explained that shadow prices measure the value of goods and services when market failures distort interest rates, exchange rates, or fiscal balances. The approach is designed to correct for the gap between observed market prices and the true economic and social cost of resources.

What the SFC is proposing

Trejos argued that social project evaluation provides a technical basis for discussing the relevance of investment initiatives in the context of public policy and the financial system, and helps select projects that raise social welfare with economic efficiency and environmental sustainability. “It is possible to prioritize projects beyond private profitability, incorporating general social welfare and, in particular, environmental sustainability,” he said.

The SFC’s proposal to build a socio-environmental pricing system for Colombia includes estimates of the social valuation of six productive factors and fundamental variables: labor, public revenue, investment, foreign exchange, carbon, and the social discount rate.

Under the proposed framework, projects would receive more favorable evaluation if they are labor-intensive — especially when they absorb idle or underemployed workers — if they generate or save foreign exchange through expanded exports or efficient import substitution, if they strengthen public revenue and the state’s capacity to provide public goods and regulation, or if they reduce carbon footprint or deliver net benefits in climate mitigation and adaptation.

The proposal does not yet carry the force of regulation. The SFC presented the framework as a methodology for supervised entities — including banks, insurers, and pension fund managers — to incorporate into their internal project evaluation processes alongside conventional financial analysis.

Headline photo: The installation of more than 886 solar systems benefiting 4,000 users. Photo credit: One Inversión Social.

Media partnership showcases urban social investment strategies in Colombia.

The History Channel is scheduled to premiere a new documentary titled Parceros on April 29, 2026. The 43-minute production, developed in collaboration with the Alcaldía de Medellín, examines the social challenges facing youth in the city’s communes and the state-led initiatives designed to mitigate the influence of criminal structures.

The documentary focuses on the Parceros program, an initiative managed by the Secretaría de Seguridad y Convivencia of Medellín. The program provides psychosocial support, academic training, and employment pathways for children, adolescents, and young adults at risk of recruitment by organized crime. According to municipal data, approximately 350 criminal groups operate within Medellín, involving an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 individuals. The program has served over 9,000 participants between 2024 and 2025, with a target of reaching 15,000 individuals by the end of the current four-year term.

“When the public sector works hand in hand with social organizations and media with global reach, the impact is multiplied.” — Federico Gutiérrez, Mayor of Medellín.

Federico Gutiérrez, the Mayor of Medellín, stated that the partnership with international media outlets aims to increase the visibility of the city’s social transformation. He noted that the collaboration between the public sector and global organizations facilitates a broader impact for regional infrastructure and social programs. The documentary features Argentine actor and producer Michel Brown, who serves as the primary narrator and interacts with participants to document their transition from informal or illegal activities toward stable employment and entrepreneurship.

The production follows the individual trajectories of three participants: Marcela, Alejandro, and Juan Sebastian. These accounts detail the transition from situations involving homelessness, illegal activities, and exploitation toward roles in municipal security management, private business ownership, and the local tourism sector. Paulina Patiño, director of the Parceros program, indicated that the initiative focuses on building human capital and providing alternatives to the economic incentives offered by local criminal organizations.

Produced by A+E Networks (NYSE: DIS) in association with Loso Producciones and co-produced by Lulo Films, the project reflects a trend of utilizing high-production-value media to document ESG-related social investments in Latin America. Cesar Sabroso, Senior VP of Marketing at A+E Networks Latin America, emphasized the company’s objective to distribute these narratives across the region to highlight successful intervention models.

Medellín continues to be a focal point for international observers due to its ongoing social transformation and its status as a hub for the global creative economy. The documentary intends to provide a technical look at how targeted social spending and public-private partnerships can alter the demographic trajectory of urban centers in Colombia and the broader US interest area.

Headline photo of Medellín’s Comuna 13 (photo © Loren Moss)

Boosting Colombia’s renewable energy capacity and grid reliability.

The Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN), a member of the Grupo Bicentenario, has announced its participation in the financial closing of the El Campano Solar Park. Located in Chinu, Cordoba, the renewable energy project is designed to strengthen national energy security and support the transition toward cleaner power sources.

The initiative involves the development, construction, and operation of a photovoltaic solar plant with an installed capacity of 128.8 MWdc (99.9 MWac). The facility is scheduled to begin commercial operations by the third quarter of 2027.

The financial structure includes a commitment from the FDN of up to $157.5 billion COP, consisting of senior debt and a bank guarantee. This contribution represents approximately 50% of the total project debt. The total investment for the project is estimated at $453.9 billion COP, utilizing a framework that combines private equity and long-term debt.

“The financial closing of the El Campano Solar Park represents a firm step in the consolidation of a cleaner, more resilient, and sustainable energy matrix for Colombia.” — Rafael Herz, acting president of the FDN

“The financial closing of the El Campano Solar Park represents a firm step in the consolidation of a cleaner, more resilient, and sustainable energy matrix for Colombia,” stated Rafael Herz, acting president of the FDN. “At FDN, we remain committed to mobilizing investment toward strategic projects that not only strengthen the country’s infrastructure but also generate positive environmental and social impacts in the regions.”

Revenue for the El Campano Solar Park is supported by a 15-year energy purchase agreement (PPA) with ISAGEN, a company maintaining a AAA credit rating. The contract operates under a “pay-as-generated” modality. Furthermore, the project is set to receive income via the Cargo por Confiabilidad (Reliability Charge) over a 20-year period, a mechanism intended to ensure long-term financial stability and debt service capacity.

The project is being developed by Atlas Renewable Energy in partnership with ISAGEN (BVC: ISAGEN). This collaboration is part of a broader joint strategy aiming to develop up to 1,000 MW of solar projects in Colombia by 2030.

In addition to its contribution to the Sistema Interconectado Nacional (National Interconnected System), the project is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 4 million tons over its operational lifespan. This alignment follows national objectives regarding sustainability and climate change mitigation.

According to the FDN, the project integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria into the financing decision-making process, focusing on the decarbonization of the economy and regional development.

Renewable expansion strengthens Colombia energy matrix for investors.

The Norwegian renewable energy company Scatec ASA (OSE: SCATC) has reached financial close and initiated construction on the Barzalosa solar power plant in Colombia. The project, located in the municipio of Nariño within the department of Cundinamarca, has a planned capacity of 130 MWp. Total capital expenditure for the facility is estimated at $121 million USD.

The financing structure for the project is based on a 70% leverage model, utilizing a combination of equity and non-recourse debt. Scatec holds a 65% equity stake in the venture, while Norfund, the Norwegian investment fund for developing countries, provides the remaining 35%. The senior debt was provided by Bancolombia S.A. (NYSE: CIB; BVC: BCOLOMBIA) and the Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN).

The Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional committed a total of 200,358 million COP to the project. This includes a senior debt facility of up to 164,458 million COP with a term of 18 years, representing approximately 50% of the total project debt. Additionally, the FDN provided a bank guarantee of up to 35,900 million COP to substitute reserve accounts for debt service and operation and maintenance costs. The FDN also acted as a co-structurer for the financial framework of the operation.

“The financing of the Barzalosa project reflects the capacity of the FDN to structure long-term financial solutions that make strategic energy transition projects in Colombia viable,” said Enrique Cadena, Vice President of Structured Finance at the FDN.

The law firm Holland & Knight served as legal counsel to the lenders, Bancolombia and FDN, in the COP 330 billion financing transaction. The legal team was led by partner María Juliana Saa, with support from partner Inés Elvira Vesga and associates Juan Sebastián Parra and Juan Felipe Alonso. Other legal and financial advisors involved in the transaction included Cuatrecasas, which advised the borrower; Brigard Urrutia, which advised FDN regarding the credit facility; and Astris Finance, which provided financial structuring advice.

Revenue for the plant will be supported by a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BTG Pactual Comercializadora de Energía (BVMF: BPAC11). The agreement covers 85% of the estimated energy production and is denominated in Colombian pesos, with adjustments based on the Producer Price Index. The remaining 15% of production will be sold on the Colombian spot market. The project is also eligible for the Cargo por Confiabilidad (reliability charge) and may access resources from the Inter-American Development Bank and the Climate Investment Funds.

Construction includes the installation of the solar array and the development of a six-kilometer transmission line to connect the plant to the national grid. Scatec is acting as the lead developer and the designated Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) provider, covering approximately 70% of the capital expenditure. The company will also manage operations, maintenance, and asset management. The Barzalosa plant is expected to reach its commercial operation date in the first half of 2027.