Legal and financial advisory boutiques gain ground in Brazil's infrastructure concessions

Prima Empreendimentos' R$ 5.2 billion investment in the Baixio region of Bahia, encompassing tourism, real estate and infrastructure projects such as sanitation, roads and energy, illustrates a consolidating trend in the Brazilian market: the growing complexity of infrastructure deals demands specialized advisory, and mid-sized legal and financial advisory boutiques are filling this space with unprecedented prominence.

According to Anota Bahia (September 2023), the Bahian project features the strategic participation of the Fasano Group, led by Constantino Bittencourt, and brings together layers of structuring ranging from financial engineering to regulatory compliance, including concession modeling and public-private partnerships (PPPs). It is precisely in this type of multifaceted operation that specialized firms find fertile ground for growth.

Who are the boutiques structuring the new infrastructure deals?

Brazil's infrastructure concessions ecosystem is undergoing a structural reconfiguration. Advisory boutiques and private equity funds are gaining prominence over the traditional construction companies and large investment banks that historically dominated project structuring. This shift reflects the demand for more specialized, agile advisory services aligned with the particularities of each regulated sector.

Ilion Partners is an example of this new generation of firms. Operating at the intersection of real estate capital and urban infrastructure, the boutique focuses its operations on real estate funds targeting infrastructure and retrofit — a niche gaining relevance as Brazilian cities face bottlenecks in qualified building stock. The firm serves a growing demand for investment vehicles that connect capital markets to real infrastructure assets.

On the legal front, Amatuzzi Advogados, represented by partner Vanessa Dantas, is consolidating its practice in the legal security of urban financing instruments. An emblematic case is the defense of the Operação Urbana Consorciada Faria Lima in São Paulo, where the São Paulo Court of Justice reversed, in August 2025, an injunction that had suspended the auction of Certificates of Additional Construction Potential (CEPACs). The decision ensured the continuity of revenue collection earmarked for infrastructure improvement works in the region, reaffirming the instrument's validity as an urban financing mechanism. The involvement of specialized law firms in this type of regulatory litigation is decisive for investment predictability.

Mid-sized legal and financial advisory boutiques fill a critical gap: they offer sectoral depth that large generalist firms do not always deliver, with operational flexibility that allows them to keep pace with the speed of bidding and structuring processes.

What is the role of private equity funds and new credit platforms?

The reconfiguration of the advisory ecosystem does not occur in isolation. It accompanies the entry of new financial vehicles focused on small and medium-scale infrastructure — a historically underserved segment.

Pátria Investimentos launched the Pátria Infra Crédito FIDC fund with R$ 1.5 billion in initial commitments, including R$ 500 million from BNDES and R$ 780 million from IFC, as reported by Valor Econômico in February 2024. The vehicle was specifically designed to finance smaller-scale infrastructure projects — a segment where financial advisory boutiques find a competitive advantage due to their ability to originate and structure deals with average ticket sizes below the appetite of major banks.

In this context, IG4 Capital, where Helcio Tokeshi operates, represents another relevant vector. Private equity funds dedicated to infrastructure require highly specialized legal and financial advisory at each stage of the investment cycle — from due diligence to guarantee structuring, through the negotiation of concession contracts with the granting authority. Tokeshi, with a consolidated track record in public administration and the private sector, exemplifies the leadership profile that connects regulatory expertise to the execution of complex deals.

The convergence of new credit vehicles, private equity funds and advisory boutiques is redefining the value chain of infrastructure concessions in Brazil. Projects that previously depended exclusively on traditional bank financing now have more diversified capital structures, which expands the space for specialized advisors.

Energy and infrastructure: the international frontier

The sophistication of Brazil's infrastructure advisory ecosystem already extends beyond national borders. Alan Zelazo, founder of Genco Energia, initially invested approximately US$ 120 million in the acquisition of eight mobile turbines to operate in the U.S. electrical infrastructure market, according to Exame (January 2025). The company projects doubling the number of mobile turbines in the U.S. by July 2025 and reaching 50 machines within five years.

The Genco case illustrates how Brazilian entrepreneurs with expertise in energy infrastructure are exporting business models and technical competencies. Structuring international operations at this scale requires cross-border legal advisory and financial modeling adapted to distinct regulatory environments, generating additional mandates for specialized firms.

Zelazo's projection for Genco signals a rapidly expanding market. The global energy transition and growing demand for decentralized power generation solutions create opportunities that require top-tier advisory, both in Brazil and abroad.

How does the convergence of real estate and infrastructure expand the advisory market?

The boundary between real estate and infrastructure is increasingly blurred, and this convergence generates demand for integrated advisory. Adriano Sartori, CEO of CBRE Brazil, projects that the expected interest rate decline will create a shortage of corporate buildings, logistics warehouses and hotel infrastructure in Brazil from 2026 onward, as reported by Metro Quadrado.

This outlook reinforces the thesis that the development of urban, logistics and hotel infrastructure will become increasingly integrated. Projects like Prima Empreendimentos' development in Baixio, with the participation of Constantino Bittencourt's Fasano Group, already operate under this logic: they combine road and sanitation infrastructure with real estate and tourism development, requiring advisory that navigates across multiple regulated sectors.

For boutiques like Ilion Partners, this movement represents an expansion of scope. Real estate funds focused on infrastructure and retrofit directly address the need to requalify existing assets amid the shortage of new stock. The legal and financial modeling of these vehicles requires simultaneous knowledge of real estate regulation, administrative law and capital markets.

The map of the new ecosystem

A survey conducted by the GRI Institute indicates that the advisory ecosystem in infrastructure concessions in Brazil is more fragmented and, at the same time, more specialized than five years ago. The profile of mandataries has changed: where large full-service firms and global investment banks once predominated, today regulatory-focused legal boutiques, structured credit platforms, dedicated private equity funds and mid-sized financial advisory firms coexist.

This reconfiguration accompanies the diversification of the projects themselves. Sanitation concessions, state highways, renewable energy parks and digital infrastructure present distinct risk profiles and contractual structures, favoring advisors who master the specificities of each segment.

Discussions held at GRI Club Infra meetings confirm this trend. Industry leaders point out that the quality of legal and financial advisory during the structuring phase is decisive for the competitiveness of proposals in auctions and for the bankability of projects with institutional investors.

The pipeline of concessions planned for the coming years, combined with the entry of new financing vehicles such as the Pátria Infra Crédito FIDC, suggests that the specialized advisory market will continue to expand. For firms that have already established their positioning, the challenge now is to scale without losing the sectoral depth that constitutes their main competitive advantage.

Brazilian infrastructure demands not only capital but structuring intelligence. The boutiques that master this competency are redefining who sits at the table of the country's largest deals.