Biography
Since 1978, John Mercer has concentrated his law practice in the areas of project and corporate finance and other complex transactions, with particular emphasis on the electric power industry. John has extensive experience and expertise in project finance, corporate finance and securities offerings, joint ventures and joint ownership arrangements, mergers and acquisitions, and independent power projects. In June 2009, John left his position as the long-time, firm-wide head of the Project Development and Finance Practice Group at a large, international law firm in order to found Mercer Thompson as an innovative, boutique law firm offering the highest quality, top-tier legal services to companies and projects engaged in power sector transactions, including complex financings, joint ownership structures and arrangements, mergers, sales and acquisitions, project development and other transactions. According to the 2011 Edition of Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, quoting in part from comments made by interviewees, “John Mercer is ‘an exceptional attorney who is in the highest echelon of legal talent in the country.’ He is ‘highly intelligent, very diligent, creative and easy to work with.’ He is widely regarded as a leading name in the field, particularly in relation to complex finance and project work.”
Professional Experience
- Chairman and Founding Principal, Mercer Thompson LLC, June 2009 to present
- Partner, Troutman Sanders LLP, 1985- June 2009
- Firm-wide Practice Group Leader, Project Development and Finance Practice Group, 1998-June 2009
- Associate, Troutman Sanders LLP, 1978-1984
Representative Transactions
- Lead outside finance and securities counsel for Wisconsin Energy Corporation and its subsidiaries, including Wisconsin Electric Power Company, Wisconsin Gas LLC and subsidiaries that own generating assets under construction
- Lead outside project finance counsel for Southern Company and its subsidiaries
- Lead project and finance counsel for a major global independent power producer in tenders and acquisitions for projects and companies in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, China, England, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States
- Lead project and finance counsel for bids and acquisitions, sales and joint ownership of power generating facilities in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, New England, New York, Louisiana, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia
- Lead outside counsel to the lead developer of an advanced nuclear generating facility in connection with the first DOE loan guarantee of $8.3 billion for a nuclear power project under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005
- Lead outside counsel to the lead developer of an IGCC lignite mining, gasification, generating and carbon capture project in connection with a DOE loan guarantee under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005
- Lead outside counsel to Elm Road Generating Station LLC (“ERGS”) in its offer and sale in the capital markets pursuant to Rule 144A of $530 million of notes secured by a collateral assignment of a long-term lease of the Oak Creek Unit 1 generating facility and in its offer and sale in the capital markets pursuant to Rule 144A of $420 million of notes secured by a collateral assignment of a long-term lease of the Oak Creek Unit 2 generating facility
- Lead outside co-counsel to Wisconsin Electric Power Company in its sale of the Point Beach Nuclear Power Station for approximately $1.5 billion
- Lead outside counsel to a major Midwestern electric utility in its requests for proposals for renewable energy generating capacity and renewable resource credits
- Lead outside counsel to a major Southwestern electric utility in its requests for proposals for solar and other “renewable fuel” generating capacity
- Lead outside counsel to an “anchor shipper” in connection with its participation in a merchant, direct-current high-voltage transmission line that is the first project to receive FERC approval for use of the anchor shipper development model for an electric transmission line
- Lead outside counsel to an international developer of wind farms in connection with development of sites located in the Pacific Northwest
- Lead outside counsel to an international developer of utility-grade solar generating projects in the Southwestern United States
- Lead outside counsel to an international developer of biomass-fueled energy production projects
- Lead outside counsel for the acquisition of a significant undivided ownership interest in an existing nuclear power station
- Lead outside counsel for Wisconsin Energy Corporation’s registered public offering of $500 million “hybrid” Subordinated Notes
- Lead outside counsel for Port Washington Generating Station LLC’s private placement of $155 million non-recourse Senior Notes to finance Unit 1 and $156 million non-recourse Senior Notes to finance Unit 2
- Lead outside counsel for Wisconsin Gas LLC’s offering of $90 million of Debentures
- Lead outside counsel for Mirant Americas Generation, Inc.’s offering of $750 million Senior Notes
- Lead outside counsel for Mirant Americas Generation, Inc.’s offering of $1.75 billion Senior Notes
- Lead outside counsel for Mirant Mid-Atlantic, LLC’s Registration and Exchange Offer of $1.224 billion Pass Through Trust Certificates
- Lead outside counsel to Mirant Americas Generation, Inc. for approximately $2.47 billion corporate banking credit facilities
- Lead counsel for Southern Energy, Inc.’s offering of $700 million Senior Notes
- Lead counsel for Southern Energy, Inc.’s corporate banking facilities of $1.3 billion
- Lead counsel for development and financing of a waste recycling plant near Little Rock, Arkansas
- Lead finance counsel for Southern Energy’s acquisition of Consolidated Electric Power Asia Limited (CEPA), including the negotiation and closing of an $850 million nonrecourse acquisition loan from a consortium of commercial banks
- Lead finance counsel for Southern Investments UK plc (SIUK) offering of $85 million Capital Income Securities pursuant to Rule 144A with registration rights
- Lead finance counsel for SIUK’s registered offering of $500 million Senior Unsecured Notes
- Lead finance counsel for Southern Energy in negotiation and documentation of a committed nonrecourse acquisition facility of £6 billion for a potential acquisition in the United Kingdom
- Lead finance counsel for Empressa Eléctrica del Norte Grande S.A. in the capital markets offering pursuant to Rule 144A of $250 million Loan Participation Certificates
- Lead finance counsel for SIUK and its subsidiary, Southwestern Electricity plc (SWEB), in negotiation and closing of a £600 million revolving loan facility
- Lead finance counsel for Southern Energy in connection with its acquisition of SWEB, including the offering of SIUK’s £627 million nonrecourse Floating Rate Bonds
- Lead finance counsel for SEI Holdings IX, Inc. (SEI IX) in the global offering of approximately $80 million of Notes in connection with SEI IX’s acquisition of a 39 percent interest in the Power Generation Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited
- Lead finance counsel for Mobile Energy Services Company, Inc. in connection with its offering of approximately $220 million of First Mortgage Bonds and $85 million Solid Waste Revenue Refunding Bonds
- Lead project and finance counsel for SEI IX in its acquisition of a 39 percent interest in the Power Generation Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited
- Lead finance counsel for Hidroelectrica Alicura, S.A., (Alicura) Argentina, in the global offering of $170 million Negotiable Obligations
- Lead finance counsel for Alicura in the exchange with Internationale Nederlanden Bank of $25.8 million Senior Advances for Subordinated Convertible Notes
- Lead finance counsel for Southern Energy in financing the 220 MW Birchwood Power Project in King George County, Virginia
- Supervising project and finance counsel for Southern Energy in the acquisition of stock in Empressa Eléctrica del Norte Grande S.A., Chile
- Supervising project counsel and finance counsel for Southern Energy in the acquisition and initial financing of Hidroelectrica Alicura, S.A., Argentina
- Supervising project counsel and finance counsel for Southern Energy in the acquisition of Freeport Power Company, Bahamas
- Lead Counsel for Southern Energy in the tender for Gladstone Power Station, Brisbane, Australia
- Lead counsel for Southern Energy in the tender for the Petacalco Pier and Coal Handling Facility in Michoacan, Mexico
- Lead project and finance counsel for Southern Energy in the tender for the Loy Yang B Power Station, Victoria, Australia
- Lead project and finance counsel for Southern Energy in the tender for the Kilroot Power Station, Northern Ireland
- Finance counsel for Southern Energy in the tender for the Pego Power Station, Portugal
- Lead counsel for Georgia Power Company (Georgia Power) in the sale of Plant Scherer Unit No. 4 to Florida Power & Light Company and Jacksonville Electric Authority
- Lead counsel for Georgia Power in its disposition of undivided ownership interests in Rocky Mountain Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Project to Oglethorpe Power Corporation (OPC)
- Lead counsel for Georgia Power in OPC’s leveraged lease of 60 percent interest in Plant Scherer Unit No. 2
- In addition, Mr. Mercer has been counsel to lenders, borrowers, underwriters and other parties in numerous corporate, project and infrastructure financing transactions involving commercial bank financing and public and private sales of debt and equity securities
Honors and Other Distinctions
- Recognized as one of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the practice area of Energy by Chambers USA (2005 to present)
- Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of Project Finance Law and Energy Law (2011 to present); named 2013 “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers for Atlanta Energy Law
- Selected as a “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics (Publication of Thomson Reuters) and Atlanta Magazine for Securities and Corporate Finance law and Energy Law (2007-2009, 2011, 2012); Member of Blue-Ribbon Selection Committee (2011, 2012)
- Achieved Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer rating (Bar and Judiciary) of AV Preeminent for legal ability and ethical standards
- Responsible for Firm’s designation as a 2011 “Go to Law Firm for the Fortune 500” by the publishers of The American Lawyer in the practice areas of Corporate Finance/Securities and Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions
- Who’s Who in America (2006 to present)
- Who’s Who in American Law (2005 to present)
- Who’s Who in the South and Southwest (2006 to present)
Bar Activities and Legal Associations
- State Bar of Georgia
- American Bar Association (Member, Business Law and International Law Sections, Energy Business Committee, Project Finance and Development Committee, Mergers and Acquisitions Committee, Subcommittee on M&A Market Trends, Federal Regulation of Securities Committee, Corporate Governance Committee)
- Energy Bar Association
- Nuclear Energy Institute Legal Committee