Alex Mertens

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Alex Mertens is a partner in the Corporate practice group and co-chair of the Energy & Natural Resources Industry Group. Alex is experienced in renewable energy finance matters and advises project sponsors, financial institutions, and investors on issues concerning the acquisition, development, financing, and sale of renewable energy projects. Alex regularly advises clients on structuring and negotiating tax equity partnerships, cash equity investments, construction and term loan financings, note purchase agreements, development loan facilities, joint ventures, and M&A transactions.

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Ralls Continues to Fight Presidential Divestiture Order Stemming from CFIUS Investigation

By Alex Mertens on Posted in Litigation, Regulation, Wind
Ralls Corp., a privately-held company owned by executives of the China-based heavy machinery manufacturing conglomerate Sany Group, recently filed an appeal in its ongoing effort to avoid President Obama’s order requiring the company to divest itself of its interest in four wind farms in Oregon. We have previously reported on the order, which was issued … Continue Reading

Stoel Rives Analyzes 2013 CFIUS Annual Report

By Alex Mertens on Posted in Regulation, Wind
We last reported to you about Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) activities in connection with the Ralls Corporation case. CFIUS is a multi-agency U.S. government committee charged with reviewing foreign acquisitions of U.S. businesses for national security implications The committee recently released its unclassified Annual Report to Congress for 2013 regarding … Continue Reading

U.S. District Judge Rules on Ralls Corp Challenge to President Obama’s Divestiture Order

By Alex Mertens on Posted in Litigation, Regulation, Wind
There has been a new development in the effort by Ralls Corporation, a company owned by two Chinese nationals, to challenge President Obama’s September 2012 order requiring it to divest its interests in four wind projects in Oregon and to remove any equipment and infrastructure it had placed on the sites of the proposed projects.  … Continue Reading

CFIUS Annual Report: National Security Trends in Foreign Investment and M&A in the United States

By Alex Mertens on Posted in Regulation, Wind
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) recently issued its 2012 Annual Report to Congress. My colleague CJ Voss has summarized some of the report’s key findings. CFIUS is charged with reviewing acquisitions of U.S. businesses for national security implications. As we reported last fall, President Obama blocked Chinese-owned Ralls Corporation’s acquisition of wind farm … Continue Reading

Justice Department Moves to Dismiss Ralls Corp Lawsuit over Blocked Oregon Wind Projects

By Alex Mertens on Posted in Wind
On October 29, 2012, the U.S. Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Ralls Corp (“Ralls”), an affiliate of Chinese-owned Sany Group, challenging President Obama’s September 28, 2012 order that blocked four planned Oregon wind projects on national security grounds. See our previous posts for more background on the Ralls Corp. … Continue Reading

Video Interview: Discussing the Obama-Blocked Chinese Wind Energy Project with LXBN TV

By Alex Mertens on Posted in Wind
Following up on our posts on the subject, I had the chance to speak with Colin O’Keefe of LXBN regarding President Obama’s blocking of a Chinese-owned wind energy project out of concerns for national security. In the brief interview, I explained what exactly happened and whether or not the companies involved have any kind of legal recourse. … Continue Reading

Obama Blocks Chinese-Owned Wind Project

By Alex Mertens on Posted in Wind
President Obama issued an order on Friday blocking the construction and ownership of a wind project by Ralls Corporation (“Ralls”), due to national security concerns including “credible evidence” that Ralls or its affiliates, including the Sany Group (“Sany”), “might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.”  Ralls was in … Continue Reading

CFIUS Intervenes in Chinese-Owned Wind Project

By Alex Mertens on Posted in Wind
On September 12 a U.S. wind project development company, Ralls Corporation ("Ralls"), owned by two Chinese nationals, filed suit against the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS"), an inter-agency U.S. government body charged with assessing the potential national security effects of foreign acquisitions of U.S. businesses. National security concerns may arise in … Continue Reading
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