About

Number of years practice: 29 Principal practice areas: Banking and finance, capital markets; corporate and securities, M&A and private equity Bar admissions: District of Columbia, New York Languages spoken: English, Portuguese and Spanish

Christopher Erckert is practice head of Mayer Brown’s global finance and banking practice and spearheads the firm’s prestigious Latin America projects practice. He has built an outstanding reputation for representing borrowers and lenders in high-profile project financings with a particular emphasis on energy and infrastructure-related work. Regarded as a leading figure for both development and financing mandates, his track record includes commercial bank, project bond (144A, private placement and Reg S) and development finance (multilateral, bi-lateral and export credit agency) transactions. He is currently advising a major energy project developer on three sizeable renewable projects, these being among the first from Mexico’s initial power auctions to be financed. Erckert’s previous high-profile matters include representing Acciona Energia and the issuers in the $148.5m and $150.2m 144A/Reg S project bond financing of the Oaxaca II and Oaxaca IV wind power projects. Other recent work includes acting as lead counsel to the North American Development Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, as lenders, in the financing of the Los Santos Solar Park project – the second largest solar facility in Mexico and a key post-reform energy sector transaction. Erckert is also noted for his particular experience in project bonds: he was instrumental in helping to secure around $300m of project bonds for the first phase of the Energía Sierra Juárez cross-border wind project, which began commercial operation in 2015. Located near the US-Mexico border, the Energía Sierra Juárez plant occupies Mexican territory while making use of US powerlines. This and other novel transactions demonstrate his profound understanding of the Mexican energy sector and ability to originate novel legal solutions when approaching significant projects.