Pablo S. Quesada

Pablo S. Quesada focuses his practice in the areas of corporate, securities, real estate and tax law, including mergers and acquisitions, private stock and debt issuances and offerings, financing and lending transactions, domestic and international commercial transactions, estate planning, and other general transactional services. In addition, given the litigation and trial experience gained by Mr. Quesada early in his career, he provides his expertise in the corporate arena to assist in the handling of complex commercial litigation matters involving corporate, stockholder and/or board governance issues.

Mr. Quesada has achieved an AV® Preeminent™ Rating by Martindale Hubbell, a significant rating accomplishment, which reflects that his peers rank him at the highest level of professional excellence both in legal ability and general ethical standards. Mr. Quesada has also been recognized by his peers as a “Top Lawyer,” as published in The South Florida Legal Guide and as a “Florida Rising Star” as published in Super Lawyers Magazine, and featured by Attorney at Law Magazine as one of South Florida’s Lawyers to Watch. Prior to forming SMGQ in 2006, Mr. Quesada served as Regional Counsel for VISA’s Latin America and Caribbean Region, providing legal counsel to all business units at VISA’s Regional headquarters in Miami, and its sub-regional offices in Chile, Mexico and Venezuela. Mr. Quesada was responsible for advising all levels of management on legal issues affecting their business areas, the interpretation and application of domestic and foreign laws and VISA’s internal rules and regulations. Prior to joining VISA, Mr. Quesada was a corporate and securities attorney with K&L Gates LLP, one of the 10 largest U.S. based international law firms with over 1,900 attorneys worldwide. While at K&L Gates, Mr. Quesada serviced one of the country’s largest privately owned companies, and was primarily responsible for its major transactions, as well as its day-to-day corporate, contractual and transactional legal needs.

NOTABLE CLIENT WORK -Mergers, Acquisitions, Dispositions and Restructurings. Representations have included a privately-held company in its acquisition, via a share exchange, of a publicly traded company for the operation of medical facilities; a publicly traded company in the acquisition of acute care hospitals in the southeastern U.S.; a U.S. telecommunications distributor in the purchase of a competitor’s operations in Mexico, via an asset purchase; a Florida company, and its foreign affiliate, in the purchase of the operations and brand of a significant U.S. juice producer; a Florida company in the purchase of a Florida-based plastics recycling plant business; a Miami-based aircraft repair station in the sale of its operations to a publicly traded company, and the negotiation of the management team’s buy-out; a medical equipment company in the sale, via merger, of its business; a U.S.-based multinational in the sale of its U.S. operations, via an asset sale; an operating division in the restructuring of a multi-national’s worldwide operations; an offshore corporation in the restructuring of its operations, necessitating worldwide share holder and board approval; a Spanish-based telecommunications and information systems company in establishing its U.S. subsidiary to oversee its operations in the Americas and Canada; a 50% shareholder in a leading Florida mortgage lender and servicer, in the buy-out of the shareholders owning the remaining 50% interest in the company and in its related entities.

-Real Estate. Representation of various developers and investors in the structuring, purchase, financing, management, development and sale of commercial real estate projects throughout Florida and the Caribbean, which have included hotel and resort-styled developments, as well as office, retail and residential projects, and including joint ventures with foreign governments.

-Credit Facilities. Representations have included structuring and negotiating mortgage, mezzanine, trade credit, and asset-based credit facilities, including warehousing and working lines of credit and terms loans, for clients, both domestic and abroad.

-Securities. Representation of clients in the structuring and formation of investment funds; preparation of private placement memorandums for securities offerings, ranging in a variety of industries from real estate to the fine arts market; representation of clients, in various stages of development, in the issuance of equity and debt securities.

-Other Commercial Transactions. Representations have included the negotiation of numerous domestic and international commercial transactions and agreements such as a petroleum-related services agreement with a South American national oil company (NOC); a software licensing and services agreement with a South American telephone operator; an exclusive master distribution agreement for Latin America with a leading original equipment manufacturer; sponsorship rights agreements for premier soccer tournaments, concert tours and other high profile events throughout Latin America; strategic marketing and content licensing agreements with Internet portals and websites; a leasing agreement for use of satellite transmission services; various venue leasing/use agreements; and hotel franchise and management agreements for hotel development projects.

PROFESSIONAL/CIVIC ACTIVITIES -Bluewater Defense, Inc., General Counsel and Member of the Board of Directors

-The Florida Bar’s Eleventh Circuit Grievance Committee “E”, Vice-Chair

-The Florida Bar’s Business Corporation Act (Chapter 607) Project Shareholder Subcommittee Working Group Co-Chair Officer and Director Subcommittee Working Group Co-Chair

-Business Law, International and Real Property, Trust and Probate Sections of The Florida Bar, Member

-Cuban American Bar Association, Member

-Latin Builders’ Association, Member

-Stonebrook Estates, Code Compliance Appeal Committee, Chairman

-Beautification Advisory Committee for the Town of Miami Lakes, Past Member

-South Florida Chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, Past Director

PUBLICATIONS -Featured in Attorney At Law's 2018 Top Lawyers as a Superstar.

-“Advising the Florida Shareholder in a Deadlock Scenario? Beware Not to Unknowingly Offer Its Shares for Sale,” CABA Briefs Magazine (Spring 2007) (published by the Cuban American Bar Association)