Hunton has extensive experience advising clients on foreign direct investment matters and US laws relating to foreign investment in the United States.

Mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and other transactions involving a foreign party’s acquisition of all or part of a US business, as well as participation in key US sectors, such as energy, information technology, or defense, or certain real estate acquisitions by foreign investors, are all potentially subject to review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS reviews in-bound foreign investments and has the authority to block foreign investments or force divestitures of past foreign investments that did not receive clearance through CFIUS’s formal review process.

Our National Security Practice lawyers assist a wide variety of US and multinational clients—including foreign investors, funds, US businesses, minority investors, financial institutions, private equity consortia, and other institutional investors—in evaluating proposed transactions potentially subject to CFIUS review. We also counsel on the process for obtaining clearance from CFIUS, including due diligence, planning an effective strategy for obtaining clearance, and addressing any likely CFIUS concerns, preparing CFIUS filings, responding to CFIUS requests, and negotiating with CFIUS and transaction counterparties regarding measures to mitigate CFIUS concerns. Our CFIUS lawyers are informed by substantial complementary experience in mergers and acquisitions, white collar defense and government investigations, and energy and infrastructure project finance and development, and have obtained CFIUS clearance in a diverse set of transactions. Our experience includes advising on middle-market and large-cap sales and acquisitions and related CFIUS filings across industries including traditional energy, renewables, transportation, e-commerce, defense, manufacturing, and financial services.