AI Magazine Issue 2 2017

38 Acquisition International - February 2017 Lugna is a transaction-focused boutique firm with an international presence delivering a premium value-added service at a reasonable cost. As part of the 2017 Global Mobility Awards, Duarte Ornelas Monteiro received the Most Outstanding for Cross border investment award. In this interview, he discusses how the firm provides specific services that are in demand for a new type of investor in Portugal. ugna is a boutique firm specialised in tax, corporate restructuring, business model optimisation, private client advisory and immigration. Owing to its international footprint, this Lisbon based firm handles cross- border and jurisdiction-specific issues and has a deep understanding of the cultural and practical aspects of investing and doing business in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Timor-Leste (East-Timor) and Macao. The firm also provides international business leverage tonationalcorporationsandentrepreneurs. Regular inbound clients include family businesses, SMEs and private clients investing directly in Portugal or incorporating a holding company as its point of entry in the European market in a post Brexit scenario. Monteiro outlines the firm’s service offering in more detail and explains how it aims to ensure that it meets the needs of its vast range of clients. “In recent years, a new type of investor has selected Portugal to acquire start-up intellectual property, establish research and cost centres or relocate management teams. Many are fintech entrepreneurs”. Nevertheless, most investment is still channelled to traditional assets such as real estate or well established companies or ventures. Portugal is a safe EU country with “privileged conditions for business, a strategic location/time zone and excellent infrastructures with an attractive tax regime for new inbounds - the non-habitual residency tax regime”. Company: Lugna Name: Duarte Ornelas Monteiro Email: [email protected] Web: www.lugna.pt Address: Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca 9 – 3º B, 1250-189 Lisbon, Portugal Phone: +351 21 131 04 08 An International Presence L 1701AI76 An International Presence Lugna’s team includes highly skilled and known advisors, lawyers and members of the Academia, and Monteiro is confident that it can provide all services clients of every size and industry need. “Our staff members hold degrees in both Law and Management and are experts in law, finance, accounting and management with extensive knowledge of cross border operations”. The team has decades of cumulative experience in the legal and tax industry. “We rely on a fresh multidisciplinary and bespoke approach to each project. Diversity is part of the firm’s culture in selecting staff and designing workflow processes. It is a business oriented team that is fluent in a wide variety of languages, and this ensures that we meet the exact needs of our diverse client base.” Operating in such a competitive market, Monteiro is keen to emphasise the techniques that his department employs in order to differentiate itself. “We have adopted a continuous improvement philosophy in seeking new technical information as well as practical knowledge of the sector the client is in. This requires extensive travelling and an on- site approach to doing business, allowing us to see and evaluate how solutions designed back at the office are implemented in real life.” The team also works in niche practice areas where others are not comfortable in and avoids the traditional insular approach to projects where information is partitioned. “Any topic is up for internal discussion, allowing us to leverage on our multidisciplinary and diverse team.” In 2016, the number of Lugna’s clients that are start- ups or in fintech increased, a tendency expected to continue in 2017. Investment into non-traditional assets is also on the rise. Overall, the team is central to the firm’s success and it will work to ensure that it remains at the forefront of the latest industry developments. Monteiro believes that preventing problems through regular interaction and open communication positions its clients for growth. “We have adopted a continuous improvement philosophy in seeking new technical information as well as practical knowledge of the sector the client is in.”