Biography

Julio Pietrantoni is Senior Counsel in the Corporate Department at O’Neill & Borges LLC. He joined the firm in 1999 as a partner after several years as a partner at another leading Puerto Rico firm and several years as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York. Since entering practice in 1984, Julio has built a reputation as one of Puerto Rico’s most experienced corporate and finance lawyers, with more than four decades advising on high-value transactions in Puerto Rico, the United States, and Latin America. He became a Senior Counsel of the Firm in 2020.

Julio’s practice focuses on corporate law, finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and commercial lending. In the finance area, he has participated in numerous offerings of municipal securities and corporate debt and equity securities, representing underwriters, issuers, trustees, and credit enhancers. He has been involved in dozens of securities offerings by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its instrumentalities, as well as conduit financings and offerings by publicly traded corporations, investment companies, nonprofit hospitals, and universities.

In the mergers and acquisitions space, Julio has acted as lead counsel in major Puerto Rico transactions, including three significant bank acquisitions and multiple leveraged buyouts. He has also advised on cross-jurisdictional deals where he served as Puerto Rico counsel. His experience includes advising multinational corporations, investment funds, and financial institutions in transactions requiring coordination across multiple legal regimes.

Julio is also active in commercial lending, where he has worked on many multimillion-dollar financings representing both borrowers and lenders. His clients have included most of the financial institutions currently doing business in Puerto Rico, and several leading Puerto Rico businesses. He is valued for anticipating regulatory, credit, and market challenges in structuring complex financing arrangements.

Recognized as a Senior Statesperson in Chambers Latin America – Corporate/Commercial: Puerto Rico, Julio is praised by clients for his broad and deep knowledge, responsiveness, and ability to craft solutions beyond the obvious.