Chris is a Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity-focused partner with more than 20 years of experience leading difficult, interdisciplinary corporate transactions. Chris frequently guides financial sponsors and operating companies through the enterprise life cycle – the initial formation, management team arrangements, bids and acquisitions; capital build-up through private equity and debt capital financings; development of pre-IPO governance structures; and private or public exit transactions. Chris works closely with V&E’s Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Finance, Tax and other specialty teams. Chris has worked on transactions for more than a dozen leading private equity firms and family offices, involving more than 100 private equity-related transactional matters across many industry sectors.
Chris is a leader of Vinson & Elkins’ working groups focused on Electric Power for Power Transmission Transactions, and for Renewable Fuels, which are part of the Firm’s focus on Energy Transition.
Chris’s publicly-credited work includes his representation of Oncor Electric Delivery Co., a ring-fenced public utility owned by Sempra and TTI with an independent board of directors, in Oncor’s $2.2 billion acquisition of InfaREIT Inc. and assets of Sharyland Utilities in 2019. The high profile power transmission and distribution transaction involved four major counterparties, a public company acquisition with a go-shop process, a private debt exchange offer for approximately $500 million, a pre-closing private asset exchange, multiple post-closing commercial contracts, an IRS private letter ruling request, and four regulatory clearances or approvals, including the Public Utility Commission of Texas and CFIUS. Chris coordinated a team of V&E lawyers from across multiple practices who worked together to achieve a successful acquisition for Oncor.
Chris has a reputation for working to get deals done practically and efficiently. He has been continuously been selected as a Texas Super Lawyer since 2011.