Cuatrecasas, the Spanish law firm, has merged with its Portuguese equivalent Gonçalves Pereira, Castelo Branco e Associados and is considering closer ties to affiliates in Latin America.

The partners at the two Iberian firms, which have had partnership agreements since 1996, finalised the merger this month. Julián García Rubí, head of Cuatrecasas' Madrid office, says the tie-up is the first merger of equals between Spanish and Portuguese law firms. "It's a natural market, the Iberian peninsula," he says.