STRUCTURING AND DRIVING
VALUE CREATION FROM INCEPTION TO EXIT
WHO WE ARE
We are trusted legal and business advisors to founders, business owners, and film producers from inception to exit. We offer deep industry insight and strategic legal guidance to help our clients structure, finance, grow, and exit their ventures.
Our focus is innovative biotechnology and software enterprises, businesses in growth or exit mode, and the entertainment industry. We integrate our core practice areas - corporate, entertainment, security laws, and intellectual property - to drive creativity and innovation, accelerate growth, and build enduring enterprise value.
WHY WE ARE THE FIRM FOR YOU
We observe, listen, and learn to develop a keen understanding of your business and needs. We are analytical, strategic, and thorough, yet practical and sensitive to transaction and people dynamics. We look at value from your perspective.
WHAT WE DO
ENTITY AND CAPITAL STRUCTURING
We advise on legal entity selection and structure, governance, and the relationships among founders, investors, and stakeholders.
In collaboration with fractional CFOs and corporate finance advisors, we integrate legal and financial strategies, guiding clients through equity and debt structuring, capital raises, investment and M&A readiness, and transaction execution.
Based in Puerto Rico, we also provide advice on tax-efficient structures and on how to leverage local income tax incentives and tax credits.
EXIT PLANNING
We strongly believe that business owners should incorporate exit planning into their strategic thinking; it helps clarify what creates enterprise value in alignment with their personal and financial goals before and after the exit.
Planning for the transition and sale of a business is a process, not a one-time event. It is about operating a business that is always ready for transition and sale by implementing strategies that build value while aligning the business with the personal and financial goals of the owners before and after the sale.
Together with management and external advisors, we guide business owners to arrive at an understanding of the company’s potential market value and its drivers, identify initiatives for growth and exit strategy alternatives, and prepare the company for the exit transaction, all in the context of the personal objectives and desires of the owners.
Exit planning is the right thing to do from a personal and socioeconomic perspective: it creates wealth and diversification for the owners while preserving the value of the business for successors, employees, and the community.
FILM PRODUCTION AND TAX CREDITS
We are proud of being internationally recognized as Puerto Rico’s leading film production and incentives law firm, having advised on the majority of studio and independent films and series produced here over the past 25 years.
We have represented over 50 feature films and series for a wide variety of independent producers and studios, including: 20th Century Fox, ABC, Amazon Prime, CBS, Disney, HBO, Marvel, Marvista, NBC Universal, Netflix, Relativity Media, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Warner Bros.
Our film practice covers production, legal, and the structuring of finance plans, with a focus on maximizing local and cross-border incentives and co-production strategies.
If you are planning on filming in Puerto Rico, you could be eligible for tax incentives and economic benefits offered by the Puerto Rico Tax Incentives Code. We can handle the application process, government relations, and tax credit placement and monetization.
ANTONIO J. SIFRE
Antonio J. Sifre is a legal and business advisor with over 30 years of experience as a corporate and entertainment attorney helping founders, business owners, and film producers structure, finance, and exit their ventures.
Prior to founding The Sifre Group, Antonio was a shareholder and director of Toro, Colón, Mullet, Rivera & Sifre, PSC for 18 years, where he handled corporate legal matters, including representing banks in commercial loans, real estate transactions, private placement of securities, copyrights and trademarks, and film production legal and tax credits. Antonio started his career in the Corporate Department of McConnell Valdés, LLC.
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Antonio is a Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA), as designated by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA), and a Certified Business Incubator Manager by the National Business Incubation Association, now the International Business Innovation Association.
He holds a Bachelor in Arts in Economics from Boston College (1989) and a Juris Doctor from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law (1992).
Outside of his advisory work, Antonio is an angel investor, drummer, music producer, and executive producer of feature films.