Bio

María Luisa Cánovas has more than 25 years of experience in a diverse corporate practice focused on cross-border M&A, joint ventures, private equity, and restructurings. Her practice focuses on cross-border M&A throughout Latin America, where she has extensive experience in the energy, infrastructure, pharma, media, retail, and hospitality sectors. María Luisa has worked on substantial matters with public companies such as Sanofi, PepsiCo, and News Corporation; private equity funds such as Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, and Playa Hotels & Resorts; and Latin American-based companies such as Betesh International and Livsmart Américas. She routinely negotiates matters in Spanish, Portuguese, and French and drafts agreements in English governed by New York law. Prior to joining Jones Day, María Luisa's representative experience included advising News Corporation in a series of complex transactions with DirecTV, Globo, Grupo Televisa, and Liberty Media in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia. María Luisa is a regular speaker at international legal conferences and a frequent author on articles on cross-border M&A. María Luisa is a director of the U.S.-Mexico Bar Association and a former director of Paz y Cooperación, a Spanish non-for-profit. She is a member of the Madrid Bar Association. María Luisa serves as the chair for the Women's Initiative and We LEAD immigration programs of Jones Day's New York Office. She is also a member of the Firm's Diversity Committee.