Overview
Rob Goodin is a partner in the Houston and Austin offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Rob’s practice focuses on complex and strategically important transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, divestitures, joint ventures and corporate governance, with a particular focus on the infrastructure and energy sectors.
Rob is also an adjunct professor at The University of Texas School of Law where he teaches a course on transactional law and related skills entitled “Doing Deals.”
Experience
Representative Matters
Rob's representative transactions have included:
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Ares Infrastructure Opportunities’ funds in their investment with ENGIE North America for a 2.7 GW portfolio of 15 operating U.S. renewables and storage projects
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Bernhard Capital Partners in its $1.252 billion acquisition of New Mexico Gas Company, Inc., the largest natural gas utility in New Mexico, from Emera Inc.
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Blackstone Infrastructure Partners in its approximately $1 billion investment in a portfolio of wind and solar projects with NextEra Energy Resources
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Generate Capital in a $650 million investment in Pine Gate Renewables
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Allied Industrial Partners in its strategic investment in Celebrity Coaches, a provider of transportation and logistics for the live events and entertainment sector
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Ares’ Infrastructure Opportunities and Alternative Credit strategies in its strategic investment into Bluepeak, a provider of fiber broadband to residential and commercial customers in the Great Plains region
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Bernhard Capital Partners in its $1.2 billion acquisition of CenterPoint Energy, Inc.’s gas distribution business in Louisiana and Mississippi
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Ridgewood Infrastructure in its acquisition of Waste Resources Management
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Generate Capital, PBC on its sale of two operational data centers in Granbury, Texas and Kearney, Nebraska to Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA)
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Bernhard Capital Partners in its $484 million acquisition of Entergy’s gas distribution business
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Blackstone Infrastructure Partners in its approximately $1 billion equity investment in Invenergy Renewables Holdings LLC
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Atlas Technical Consultants, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATCX), a leading provider of infrastructure and environmental solutions, in its acquisition by funds managed by GI Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.05 billion
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Savage Enterprises, LLC in the sale of EnviroServe Inc., a provider of environmental and waste management services, to an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners, LLC
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Blackstone Energy Partners in its $1.05 billion sale of its 25% interest in the Grand Prix NGL Pipeline to Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP)
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Doral Renewables LLC, a U.S. renewable energy and storage developer, in its sale of up to $500 million of convertible notes to funds managed by Apollo (NYSE: APO) affiliates and Migdal Insurance
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Arroyo Investors in its sale of ARCO, one of the largest independent renewable power producers in Chile, to Sonnedix, a global renewable energy independent power producer
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Generate Capital in its acquisition of esVolta LP, one of the leading large-scale battery storage developers in the United States
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United Utility Services, a Bernhard Capital Partners portfolio company, in its acquisition from Westinghouse Electric Company of BHI Power Delivery, a specialty utility transmission and distribution services provider
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Transportation Infrastructure Partners, a joint venture between Ridgewood Infrastructure, LLC and Savage, in the acquisition of Worldwide Terminals Fernandina, LLC, the manager and operator for the Port of Fernandina, Florida, a strategic intermodal terminal handling essential bulk, breakbulk and containerized cargo
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Blackstone Infrastructure Partners on its participation in a consortium of investors that secured an almost 84,000 acre lease for $645 million in the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s New York Bight offshore wind auction
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Ares’s Infrastructure and Power strategy in its $600 million strategic equity investment in SB Energy, SoftBank Group Corp.’s U.S. Climate Infrastructure Technology platform
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Blackstone Infrastructure Partners on its $3 billion equity investment in Invenergy Renewables Holdings LLC in one of the largest renewables investments in North American history
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Blackstone Energy Partners in its acquisition of Irth Solutions, a leading provider of cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that automate processes for damage prevention and asset protection across critical network infrastructure assets
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Ares’s Infrastructure & Power strategy in its acquisition of a majority stake in Apex Clean Energy, a leading renewables developer transitioning to an independent power producer, and certain related co-investment arrangements
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Bernhard, an energy-as-a-service solutions company, in connection with a sale to DIF Capital Partners
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Infrastructure fund in its arrangement with a strategic partner to invest in and deliver sustainable essential infrastructure projects throughout the U.S. to municipalities, universities, schools and health care systems (MUSH), and the related third party financing for such projects
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Custom Truck One Source (CTOS), a Blackstone portfolio company, in its $1.475 billion sale to Nesco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NSCO)
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Transportation Infrastructure Partners, a joint venture between Ridgewood Infrastructure, LLC and Savage Enterprises, LLC, in the acquisition of Carolina Marine Terminal, a multi-modal marine dry good bulk port facility in Wilmington, North Carolina
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Savage Enterprises, LLC on the formation of Transportation Infrastructure Partners LLC, a joint venture with Ridgewood Infrastructure LLC focused on transportation and logistics infrastructure
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Atlas Technical Consultants, a construction engineering firm owned by Bernhard Capital Partners, in its $700 million combination with Boxwood Merger Corp., a special purpose acquisition company
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Innovex Downhole Solutions and its sponsor Intervale Capital in the acquisition of Quick Connectors, Inc. and its exclusive Permian distributor, Enerserv
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GIC in its acquisition of a minority stake in WaterBridge Resources LLC from funds affiliated with Five Point Energy LLC and WaterBridge management
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Nesco, an industrial equipment rental business owned by ECP, in its $1.1 billion combination with Capitol Investment Corp. IV, a special purpose acquisition company
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Haymaker Resources and its sponsor KKR in the $404 million sale of oil and gas mineral and royalty interests to Kimbell Royalty Partners
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Representation of the acquirer in a $2.1 billion acquisition of a public e-commerce and television retail company
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Representation of the seller in a $1.5 billion sale of natural gas utility assets
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Representation of the private sponsor in a $275 million sale to its affiliated master limited partnership of midstream assets and equity interests in two midstream subsidiaries
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Representation of the seller in a $250 million sale of gas-fired and oil-fired peaker power plants to a private equity fund
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Representation of the strategic lead investor in a $20 million Series A investment in an open-source SaaS provider
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Representation of the venture capital fund lead investor in a $20 million Series D investment in a clinical and commercial stage dermatology company
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Representation of the venture capital fund lead investor in a $10 million Series A investment in a nanotechnology-enabled biotech company
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Representation of medical device manufacturer in connection with multiple venture financings totaling more than $10 million
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Representation of an e-commerce integration and fulfillment solutions provider to eCommerce merchants in its spin-off
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Representation of the acquirer in a $100 million acquisition and take-private of a public company
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Representation of a payment solutions provider in a $30 million growth private equity investment
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Representation of a developer of online security authentication software in a $1 million venture financing
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Representation of leading nanopore DNA and single molecule sensing technology growth company in connection with university technology licenses, domestic and international commercialization and supply agreements
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Representation of digital advertising agency in connection with commercial and technology transactions
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Representation of medical device manufacturer in connection with domestic and international commercialization
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Representation of a global provider of enterprise technology solutions in connection with off-shore development outsourcing agreement with global outsourcing service provider
Clerk & Government Experience
Summer Law ClerkHonorable Gregg J. CostaUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Judicial InternJustice Don WillettSupreme Court of Texas
Prior Experience
More
Thought Leadership
Speaking Engagements
Speaker, “Trends and Developments in Infrastructure and Energy M&A,” Institute for Energy Law Annual Energy Law Conference, 2024
Presenter, “Infrastructure and the Energy Transition: Structures, Trends and Risks,” Association of Corporate Council, 2023
Recognition
Recognized in The Legal 500 United States in Energy Transactions: Electric Power (2023)
Rob serves as an adjunct professor at The University of Texas School of Law where he teaches a course on transactional law and related skills entitled “Doing Deals.”
Memberships & Affiliations
Texas Business Law Society — Board of Advisors
LawMeet Transaction Competition — Coach for University of Texas School of Law
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- Texas
Education
- University of Texas at Austin School of LawJ.D.with Honors
Founder and Vice President, Texas Business Law Society
Director of Media, Texas Journal of Oil, Gas, and Energy Law
LawMeet Transaction Competition
- University of North Carolina WilmingtonB.S., Business Administration (Economics, Entrepreneurship & Business Development with significant coursework in Finance)cum laude
Chancellors Achievement Award
Leadership Excellence Award
President, National Association for Business Economics