Sergio Torres is a corporate counsel and a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Private Fund Transactions and Latin America Groups. His practice focuses on domestic and cross-border acquisitions, divestitures, complex joint ventures, venture capital and private equity investments and corporate governance matters for private equity sponsors, financial institutions and other corporate clients.
In Chambers Latin America and Chambers Brazil, which recognizes him as Up and Coming, Mr. Torres is noted as “an excellent lawyer with strong knowledge of the Latin American culture” and “a highly responsive lawyer, accessible and straightforward in his recommendations.” Clients also praise him for “providing practical advice” and being “pro-business, agile and objective”. He is also ranked as a leading lawyer by The Legal 500 Latin America (2025) and has been named among the top 25 “Rising Stars” in Latin America by Latinvex in recognition of the scope and prominence of his work and future potential.
From 2021-2023, Mr. Torres was an Adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School, where he taught “Contract Drafting and Negotiation.”
Mr. Torres co-authored the preface of “Fusões e Aquisições: Pareceres” (Mergers and Acquisitions: Legal Opinions), a book comprising a collection of legal opinions rendered by Brazilian legal scholars in M&A arbitration disputes in Brazil. Mr. Torres was a speaker in the Global Private Equity Conference organized by the International Finance Corporation and the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association in Washington, D.C., where he discussed Structuring and Governance of Private Equity M&A Deals in Emerging Markets. He regularly writes for the firm’s Private Equity Report and also co-authored the article “Breves anotações sobre derivativos e securitização no Brasil” (Notes on derivatives and securitization in Brazil) published by Revista de Direito Empresarial.
Mr. Torres joined Debevoise in 2016 and is a member of the firm’s Inclusion Committee. From 2011 to 2015, he was a senior M&A counsel with Itaú Unibanco S.A., advising the financial conglomerate in domestic and cross-border M&A transactions in the insurance, financial and technology sectors, as well as in corporate governance matters, private equity, and fund investments across the United States, Europe and Latin America. Mr. Torres was a legal counsel at Louis Dreyfus Commodities from 2010 to 2011, advising the group in complex transactions in Latin America, including trade finance, strategic alliances, M&A and international trade. Mr. Torres was an international associate at Debevoise from September 2013 through July 2014. Earlier in his career, Mr. Torres worked at Mexichem (currently Orbia) and Bunge.
Mr. Torres received an LL.M. from Stanford Law School in 2016, and his law degree from University of Blumenau, Brazil, in 2008. He also received an M.B.A. in Taxation from Fundação Getulio Vargas in 2009, and post-graduate degrees in International Trade from Instituto Internacional de Ciências Sociais in 2011, and corporate law from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo in 2013.
Mr. Torres is admitted to the New York State Bar and the Brazilian Bar Association. He is fluent in Portuguese and English and proficient in Spanish.