Andersen bets big on Barcelona. The international legal services firm, heir to the defunct Arthur Andersen, has just opened new 1,000 square meter offices on Avenida Diagonal, from where it plans to lead an ambitious growth project that could lead it to quadruple its size in just two years.
The new headquarters of the Barcelona office fully occupies the eighth floor of the Beethoven building, at number 618 on Diagonal, a property recently remodeled to adapt to the new standards of efficiency and quality required by the business real estate rental sector. For Andersen, the choice is not trivial, since the Catalan headquarters of the old Arthur Andersen, which disappeared in 2002 as a result of the Enron scandal, was located in this same building.
A few years ago, a group of former American partners of the firm decided to relaunch the brand, but only as a law firm and operating as Andersen. As a result of this decision, Arturos ---as they are known in the sector--- from all over the world also began to open offices in various cities to recreate a global firm, so the brand also returned to Spain in 2017. In a first phase, Andersen established itself in Catalonia through an alliance with the firm Global Abogados, while in Madrid and Valencia the firm restarted its journey with Olleros Abogados.
Over time, the firm considered it an anomaly to operate in the same country with the same brand, but through two different organizations that divided territories. A merger was attempted, which did not prosper, which meant that the 50 professionals of Andersen Global in Barcelona ended up leaving the firm to join the Valencian firm Broseta Abogados, which was thus able to establish itself in the Catalan capital.
After this operation, Andersen, now as a single company, started its operations in Barcelona from scratch at the beginning of 2022, first in an office on Muntaner street and now in the new Diagonal headquarters, which will allow it to face its growth and the challenge of having won the contract to exclusively offer all the legal services that the America's Cup organization will need in 2024.
"We are tremendously happy and excited about the Catalan project," highlight the managing partners of Andersen in Spain and Portugal, José Vicente Morote and Íñigo Rodríguez-Sastre. "Our goal is to position ourselves as a fundamental player in the Catalan legal market," they point out, also emphasizing the enormous opportunity that the contract with the America's Cup represents. "We already have a team of 30 lawyers in the offices of Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Malaga, and Seville working on this project," they highlight.
After having hired professionals from various national and international law firms in the last year, the Barcelona office already has a team of 25 people led by Juan Ignacio Alonso Dregi, who had previously worked in firms such as Garrigues, Dentons, and Ceca Magan. According to Alonso, who is honorary consul of Malta in Catalonia, the goal is to double the number of professionals this year, meaning he expects to raise the staff of the Barcelona headquarters to 40 or 50 people.
Andersen's plans, however, are more ambitious and they expect to double the size again next year, to have a team of between 80 and 100 professionals by the end of 2024, which means incorporating up to 75 people in a year and a half. The firm will focus on commercial, tax, labor, procedural, public, mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital law, and expects to have a diverse client profile, from Ibex companies to Catalan companies that are internationalizing, although, fundamentally, the bulk will be SMEs. "Catalan entrepreneurs have always been pioneers in the internationalization of their companies. Our commitment to Catalonia is indisputable, it is a land where we want to be, stay, and grow," asserted José Vicente Morote.
The commitment to Barcelona is part of Andersen's strategic growth plan in Spain, which also contemplates strong growth. The firm was reborn in 2017 with a budget of 13 million euros and 150 professionals, and the 2022 fiscal year has already closed with a turnover of 40.2 million, up 24%, and a team of 350 people. The goal is to reach 50 million euros this year, the partners advance. In a first phase, Andersen has set the Barcelona office to generate 5% of the business volume in Spain.
Another of their challenges is to continue expanding their geographical presence, with two initiatives in their sights: opening offices in Bilbao and Porto: "we would like it to be this year," they admit. In Portugal, Andersen operates from Lisbon. Internationally, the new Andersen is present in 174 countries, with more than 400 offices, 71 of them in Europe.
"Barcelona has a lot of know-how to contribute to Andersen's evolution," Morote pointed out, after noting that the Barcelona market "is fundamental not only for the firm, but for the economy in Spain." The managing partner highlights the importance of initiatives "that are an economic engine" for Barcelona, such as the America's Cup. Andersen estimates that in the labor field alone they have an "immense task" ahead of them, as they will have to supervise more than 7,500 work permits over the next year and a half for all people involved in the competition. Their lawyers have also worked on the legal regulations that have allowed the regatta to be declared an Event of Exceptional Public Interest, which translates into tax incentives for companies. Andersen will also supervise the drafting of all types of contracts, bidding processes, sponsorships, and even rental contracts for the homes needed to accommodate the organization and team members.
The inauguration ceremony of the new Barcelona headquarters, held this Thursday, was attended by the president of Repsol, Antoni Brufau, who is a former Arthur Andersen and was one of Barcelona's most prominent managing partners in his time.