CFIUS takes an unprecedented step to fend off a potential foreign acquisition The threat that China will eclipse the U.S. in telecommunications infrastructure and technology is central to U.S. national security Five key takeaways from the most recent CFIUS action Since late 2017, Singapore-based semiconductor company Broadcom has been pursuing a $117 billion hostile takeover … Continue Reading
The U.S. Congress is currently considering legislation that would tap the brakes on foreign direct investment in the United States, particularly on investments in sensitive industries like artificial intelligence, robotics, and semiconductors. We know: you’re saying we already have that in the form of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (known as … Continue Reading
CFIUS is expanding its reach. Where the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has generally scrutinized foreign acquisition of U.S. “critical infrastructure,” it has now signaled that it may look closely at any deal where the target collects or maintains sensitive personal information.… Continue Reading
The other day I spoke to a colleague at the U.S. Department of the Treasury who works in the Office of Investment Security and said, “I heard CFIUS filings were going to break last year’s record total.” He just laughed. He said the OIS received one hundred and seventy-some filings in 2016, the most they … Continue Reading
On September 13, 2017, the EU Commission released a proposed regulation establishing a framework for screening Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Europe. Several EU Member States have already implemented national mechanisms enabling them to intervene in transactions that the States believe endanger their national interest. However, there is no harmonized regime for reviewing FDI into … Continue Reading
In a stunning ruling issued on July 15, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) and the subsequent unwinding of the investment deprived the foreign investor of due process under the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ralls … Continue Reading
By Sheppard Mullin CFIUS Attorneys on Posted in CFIUS
In December 2013, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) released its annual report to Congress (the “Report”) covering transactions it reviewed in Calendar Year 2012. (Yes, Calendar Year 2012 – CFIUS takes its time publishing its annual reports.) CFIUS is the U.S. interagency government body that reviews acquisitions of U.S. businesses … Continue Reading
By: Reid Whitten
On February 25, 2013, the Chinese state oil company, CNOOC, closed a $15.1 billion deal to take over Canadian oil company, Nexen. Along with interests in the Canadian oil sands of Alberta and offshore production in west Africa and the North Sea, CNOOC will acquire more than 200 drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico, a primary source of U.S. oil. According to Nexen, its existing assets in the area include facilities producing more than 15,000 barrels of oil per day in 2012, with notable exploration potential for future growth.… Continue Reading
By: Thad McBride
As addressed in our September 27 blog, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) was sued in U.S. District Court by Ralls Corp relating to the acquisition by Ralls of four Oregon companies whose assets consisted solely of windfarm development rights and to CFIUS’s determination to block the transaction.
On September 28, President Barack Obama did just that.
… Continue Reading
By: Thad McBride
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has been sued. CFIUS is the U.S. government inter-agency committee that reviews foreign investment in the United States. (For more information about CFIUS, including its operations and recent actions, please look here.)
According to a filing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Ralls Corp is requesting a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction to enjoin CFIUS from prohibiting Ralls from developing and operating a wind farm in Oregon. Ralls is owned by executives of Sany Group Co., a Chinese company that, among other things, manufactures wind turbine generators. In recent years, CFIUS has tended to be especially cautious with respect to transactions involving China.
… Continue Reading
By: Thaddeus McBride, Brian Weimer, and Dan Brooks
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or the “Committee”) recently submitted its annual report to Congress for calendar year 2010. The report, which provides general information on notices filed, reviews and investigations completed by CFIUS during the year, and the types of security arrangements and conditions that the Committee has employed to mitigate national security concerns, reveals that a larger number of reviews are proceeding to the investigation stage and that the Committee is increasingly conditioning its tacit approval of transactions upon the parties’ adoption and implementation of various mitigation measures.
… Continue Reading