Mr Mario Mancuso > Kirkland & Ellis LLP > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile

Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s dominant offerings in private equity and large-scale M&A positions it as a first port of call for many corporate clients seeking cross-border investment clearance. With a ‘unique ability to communicate effectively with financial professionals’, the team’s experience spans the full scope of issues before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)—from regulatory counselling and the preparation of filings, through to the negotiation of mitigation agreements. Department co-head Ivan Schlager is widely recognized as a foremost authority on CFIUS matters and his broad industry expertise encompasses the defense, TMT, energy, and private equity spheres. Schlager recently advised Blackstone Infrastructure Partners (BIP) on CFIUS matters connected to the acquisition by IRG Acquisition Holdings (a joint venture between Invenergy Renewables, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and funds managed by BIP) of a renewables portfolio from American Electric Power. Fellow group co-head Mario Mancuso is also highly regarded for his comprehensive national security practice, which takes in CFIUS, economic sanctions, export controls, and other international risk issues. Mancuso recently teamed up with Lucille Hague, ‘a technical expert on the CFIUS rules’, to lead the CFIUS process for Brookfield Infrastructure’s 49% investment in expanding Intel’s semiconductor operations in Arizona. The Washington DC-based group also draws on government, regulatory and internal investigations partners Daniel Gerkin and Michelle Weinbaum.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s team is particularly active on behalf of private equity clients, and their portfolio companies, on export controls and economic sanctions matters. The wider firm’s premier transactional offering ensures that it is a first port of call for high-stakes transactional due diligence matters, and also frequently advises on export licensing, internal investigations and enforcement matters. Key contacts include New York-based litigator Zachary Brez, who specializes in complex enforcement and regulatory matters in the international risk sphere, as well as Washington DC-based international trade and national security specialists Mario Mancuso and Ivan Schlager.