Aguilar Castillo Love

What Aguilar Castillo Love does

Aguilar Castillo Love, S.r.l. is a Costa Rica-domiciled full-service law firm operating offices in nine Latin American countries: Bolivia (La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra), Costa Rica (San José), Ecuador (Quito), El Salvador (San Salvador), Guatemala (Guatemala City), Honduras (Tegucigalpa), Nicaragua (Managua), Panama (Panama City), and Paraguay (Asunción). The firm traces its origins to the 1820s, when Manuel Aguilar Chacón established Bufete Aguilar — Costa Rica's first law firm — and the modern iteration was formed by uniting a Castillo family member with an American partner from Pennsylvania, combining the historic Aguilar pedigree with the Castillo family's regional business prominence (the Castillo family founded Cervecería Centroamericana in 1876). The firm employs 101–250 people and positions heritage, cross-border business insight, and forward-thinking legal expertise as the core of its value proposition.

The firm delivers legal services across 13 practice areas: Antitrust and Competition, Corporate M&A (the anchor practice), Dispute Resolution, Employment, Finance, Infrastructure/Energy/Natural Resources, Intellectual Property and Media Law, International Trade and Investment, Investigations/Corporate Criminal Law and Defense, Public Law, Real Estate, Regulatory and Compliance, and Tax. The technology stack is human legal expertise — not proprietary technology — and the firm operates as a licensed local counsel in each jurisdiction, requiring local bar admission for all lawyers. The GTM motion is direct enterprise engagement through country-led offices, targeting multinational corporations, global financial institutions, and large regional enterprises on cross-border transactions; for matters extending beyond Central America, the firm collaborates with leading American, UK, and European law firms as local counsel.

The revenue model is professional services fees negotiated on a per-engagement basis; pricing is not publicly disclosed. Engagement types span multi-million-dollar M&A transactions, joint venture structuring, project finance for renewable energy and infrastructure, regulatory and merger-control approvals, internal investigations and crisis management, and ongoing corporate counsel. The customer base is concentrated in enterprise accounts across telecommunications, oil and gas, mining, financial services, food and beverage, IT, healthcare, renewable energy, manufacturing, hospitality, banking, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The firm maintains a permanent pro bono program originating in the 1970s and invests in thought-leadership content ('Business Intelligence' articles) as the primary top-of-funnel marketing channel. No funding rounds, acquisitions, or inorganic corporate actions are disclosed.

Name

Aguilar Castillo Love

Legal name

Aguilar Castillo Love, S.r.l.

Website

https://aguilarcastillolove.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1820

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Aguilar Castillo Love is a Costa Rica-headquartered full-service law firm with offices in nine Latin American countries, serving multinational corporations and global financial institutions on cross-border M&A, finance, regulatory, and dispute-resolution matters through 13 practice areas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate & Commercial Law (BPAHAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) & Securities Law (BPAHAAAI), Buy-Side M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAB), Cross-Border M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAH)

Keywords

• Cross-border legal services
• Corporate M&A advisory
• Merger control regulation
• Dispute resolution litigation
• Infrastructure project finance

Headquarters

HQ city

San Rafael

HQ country

Costa Rica

HQ region

Latin America

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services Revenue: The firm generates revenue through providing comprehensive legal services to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and corporate clients across Latin America. Services span corporate M&A, dispute resolution, finance, regulatory compliance, tax, and other practice areas. Revenue is derived from professional legal fees for complex cross-border transactions, ongoing legal counsel, and specialized legal work for enterprise clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Aguilar Castillo Love is a full-service Latin American law firm providing comprehensive legal advisory across 13 practice areas, anchored by Corporate M&A. The firm delivers cross-border transactional support, regulatory and antitrust counsel, dispute resolution, finance and capital markets work, infrastructure/energy project support, and corporate criminal defense for multinational corporations and financial institutions across its nine country offices. Legal services are rendered by duly admitted local lawyers in each jurisdiction of coverage.

Product overview

Aguilar Castillo Love is a unified law firm offering comprehensive legal services across Latin America through 13 distinct practice areas. The firm's core service is Corporate M&A, from which most other practices derive and relate. Practice areas span Antitrust and Competition, Dispute Resolution (litigation and arbitration), Employment, Finance (banking and capital markets), Infrastructure/Energy/Natural Resources, Intellectual Property and Media Law, International Trade and Investment, Investigations and Corporate Criminal Defense, Public Law, Real Estate, Regulatory and Compliance, and Tax. The firm operates offices in 10 countries (Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay) and serves multinational clients on cross-border transactions, working with leading international law firms globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Antitrust and Competition
• Corporate M&A
• Dispute Resolution
• Employment
• Finance
• Infrastructure, Energy and Natural Resources
• Intellectual Property and Media Law
• International Trade and Investment
• Investigations, Corporate Criminal Law and Defense
• Public Law
• Real Estate
• Regulatory and Compliance
• Tax

Named customers27 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Baker McKenzie: Global law firm with the largest Latin American practice among international firms, regularly partnering with local counsel like ACL on cross-border M&A; represents the upper-tier incumbent competing for the same multinational mandates.
• DLA Piper: Global law firm with extensive Latin American coverage and broad corporate/M&A, finance, and regulatory capabilities; competes for the same Fortune 500 mandates and serves as both competitor and potential referral partner.
• Hogan Lovells: Global law firm with significant Latin American capabilities across corporate, finance, energy, and regulatory practices; competes for high-end cross-border mandates with similar service profile to ACL's enterprise practice.
• Greenberg Traurig: Global law firm with strong Latin American practice, particularly in M&A, finance, and energy/infrastructure projects; directly comparable in serving multinational corporate, financial institution, and energy-sector clients across the region.

Direct peers

• Muñoz Global: Panama-headquartered regional firm offering corporate, finance, regulatory, and dispute resolution services across Latin America; comparable in serving cross-border enterprise clients and operating from a Central American hub.
• Consortium Legal: Central American law firm with offices across Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama providing full-service corporate and M&A practices; one of the most direct regional competitors with similar footprint.
• Pellerano & Herrera: Dominican Republic-based regional firm with Central American reach, providing corporate, M&A, real estate, and finance services to international clients; comparable as a multi-jurisdictional Latin American law firm serving multinational corporates.
• Mayora & Mayora S.C. Long-established Guatemalan full-service firm with corporate, M&A, energy, and tax practices serving multinational clients; comparable as a regional specialist operating in ACL's Guatemalan market with similar enterprise client base.
• Arias: Central American law firm with offices across Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama providing corporate, banking, and M&A services to multinational clients; directly comparable in geographic coverage and practice mix.
• BLP (Berriz, Liberali, Picado): Leading Central American full-service law firm headquartered in Costa Rica with offices across the region, offering corporate M&A, finance, regulatory, tax, and dispute resolution practices that directly overlap with ACL's core service mix and Latin American clientele.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses6 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aguilar Castillo Love