Mercer Thompson LLC

Chairman: John T. W. Mercer
Managing Partner: Richard E. Thompson II
Number of partners: 10
Number of lawyers: 14
Languages: English

Firm Overview:
Mercer Thompson is a boutique law firm focused on providing top-tier transactional legal services to companies in the electric power industry. Founded by former partners of a major international law firm, its “diamond-shaped” structure provides clients with direct access to partner-level attorneys who have for their entire careers represented electric power and project companies in their most important transactions. With decades of experience serving energy industry clients, the firm’s deep legal expertise includes all elements of corporate and capital markets finance, project finance and development, U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantees, mergers, sales, and acquisitions of energy companies and projects, and complex equity arrangements, shared facility arrangements, joint ventures and strategic alliances. The firm is particularly focused on clean technology and renewable energy projects, as well as nuclear energy, conventional fossil-fuel and transmission projects. The firm’s attorneys have handled multiple multibillion-dollar transactions, including serving in lead counsel roles on some of the largest and most complex U.S. electric industry transactions over the last 30 years.

Main Areas of Practice:
■ Utility Corporate and Capital Markets Finance
■ US Department of Energy Loan Guarantees
■ Power Project Finance
■ Power Project Development
■ Mergers, Sales, and Acquisitions of Energy Companies and Projects
■ Complex Equity Arrangements, Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances
■ Joint Ownership and Shared Facility Arrangements
■ Renewable Energy and Utility-Scale Energy Storage Projects
■ Gas-Fired Power Projects
■ Securities and Corporate Governance
■ Nuclear Energy Finance and Regulation

Contacts:
John T. W. Mercer
404-577-4201
[email protected]

Chip Thompson
404-577-4204
[email protected]

Representative Transactions:
■ Borrower’s counsel for first-ever U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee for nuclear power plant construction and permanent financing (and largest loan guarantee made to date by DOE), with total commitments of $8.33 billion
■ Developer’s counsel for the first engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in over 30 years for a new build nuclear power plant in USA, valued in excess of $14 billion
■ Issuer’s counsel for the offer and sale of $1.2 billion of senior unsecured notes in support of a $9.1 billion corporate energy industry acquisition
■ Buyer’s counsel for clients in the acquisition of over 2,180 MW of wind projects and 1,060 MW of solar projects across the USA
■ Developer’s counsel for the development and construction of a 280 MW solar PV project in Monterrey, California (valued at over $1 billion) and the twin development of sister solar PV projects in Imperial, California and Arlington, Arizona with combined capacity of over 297MW (also valued at over $1 billion)
■ Developer’s counsel in connection with the purchase of over 4,000 MW of wind turbines planned for deployment in projects across the USA
■ Developer’s counsel in connection the development and construction of over 5,300 MW of wind farms across the USA
■ Developer’s counsel for the development and construction of a $1 billion gas-fired power plant in Ohio, an $880 million gas-fired power plant in Maryland, and a $768 million gas-fired power plant in Pennsylvania
■ Developer’s counsel in connection with the negotiation and execution of contracts to build and maintain a new 800 MWh (200 MWh x 4 hour) battery energy storage project in California (largest such project in the world upon its completion)
■ Developer’s counsel in connection with the development of a 500-mile merchant overhead transmission line in the Western U.S., valued at over $1 billion
■ Counsel to a major European power generation company in its negotiation and execution with a US-based supplier of a ten-year take-or-pay contract for the CIF cross-oceanic supply from the USA to the Port of Rotterdam of 4,000,000 tonnes of biomass wood pellets over a ten year period.