New York M&A partner Michael McGuinness, who leads the firm’s M&A activity in Brazil, Mexico and throughout Latin America, was one of the featured participants in a recent roundtable on M&A activity sponsored by Latin Business Chronicle. McGuinness, who played a lead role in JBS’s acquisition of Pilgrim’s Pride and is actively involved in Romi’s current offer for US-based Hardinge, said that Brazil will continue to be the big story in the region. He told Latin Business Chronicle: “[Brazil’s] internal economy is strong and continues to drive growth, and I would expect Brazilian corporates to continue to push for targets in South America, the US and Europe.” But there’s also considerable interest in inbound investment from the Middle East, especially the Gulf States, and Asia. McGuinness also noted that “Mexico is a different story,” adding “We spend a lot of time in Mexico, and there have been some important transactions there in the last year. The trouble is, unlike Brazil, Mexico is suffering quite a bit with its internal issues—economic matters, the violence around the drug trade. The environment must improve before M&A will return in earnest.”