Kristin L. Mendoza, P.C.
Overview
Kristin L. Mendoza is a corporate partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Kristin advises public and private companies, including private equity firms and strategic investors, in connection with domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, reorganizations and other general corporate matters, focusing in the energy and infrastructure sector.
Kristin maintains an active pro bono portfolio relating to rule of law and media freedoms with the Media Law Working Group of the International Senior Lawyers Project.
Experience
Representative Matters
Renewable & Clean Energy
- InfraRed Capital Partners in its acquisition of a 202MW Texas onshore wind farm from Duke Energy Corporation
- ArcLight Capital Partners on the establishment of infrastructure and energy portfolio manager AlphaGen
- TPG Rise Climate, The Rise Fund and Decarbonization Partners in their $250 million investment in Monolith Materials, a producer of hydrogen and carbon black using a commercial-scale methane pyrolysis process, in connection with a $300 million capital raise by Monolith
- TPG Rise Climate in its approximately $550 million investment in a $750 million capital raise by Intersect Power, LLC, a developer of solar, energy storage, hydrogen, wind and other renewable power generation projects
- CleanCapital in its acquisition of BQ Energy, a Hudson Valley-based developer of solar projects on landfill and brownfield sites with more than 60 projects spanning 16 states
- TPG Rise Climate in its $300 million investment in a $1 billionn capital raise by Summit Carbon Solutions, a developer of a large-scale carbon capture and storage project that will capture and store up to 20 million tons per year of CO2 from facilities in the Midwest US
- Gates Frontier in connection with its additional investment in TerraPower, a leading nuclear innovation company, in its $750 million fundraising round co-led by Gates Frontier and SK Inc. and SK Innovation
- TPG Rise Climate in its investment in a $375 million capital raise by BETA Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft for the cargo and logistics industry, and related EV charging infrastructure
- Carlyle Renewable and Sustainable Energy Fund in its investments in CertainSolar, an owner of fuel cell and related assets, and NineDot Energy, a CertainSolar affiliate that develops and owns battery storage projects
- TPG Rise Climate in its investment in a $170 million capital raise by UBQ Materials Ltd., an Israeli-headquartered company that converts household and municipal waste to sustainable bio-based thermoplastic
- Infrastructure fund in its co-investment in a global solar independent power producer with over 1.5 GW of operating projects in various OECD markets in Europe, the Americas and Africa
- True Green Capital Management LLC in the sale of its 28.5 MW Mt Home solar project in Idaho to Standard Solar
- CarVal in its preferred equity investment in a portfolio of three wind facilities with over 450 MW of generating capacity in Texas, developed and majority-owned by a subsidiary Capital Dynamics, and its €254 million financing of Enfinity Global Inc., a global renewable energy solutions platform
- Energy credit fund in its potential investment in retail hydrogen fueling stations
- EQT Infrastructure in its acquisition of Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE: CVA), an owner and operator of waste-to-energy facilities in North America, in a transaction valued at $5.3 billion
- CleanCapital in its $300 million equity raise for a new C&I solar and storage platform, associated equity holder arrangements, and acquisition of two C&I solar portfolios from affiliates of BlackRock and IGS Energy, respectively
- True Green Capital Management LLC in its sale to Altus Power, Inc. of a sub utility-scale solar portfolio consisting of 28 operating projects with approximately 80 MW of generating capacity
- Infrastructure fund its bid to acquire a 93 MW portfolio of geothermal projects and associated transmission line
- ArcLight Clean Transition Corp. in its $1.6 billion de-SPAC merger with Proterra Inc, an electric bus company
- Infrastructure fund in its combination of a 1.9 GW portfolio of wind and solar projects with a 2.3 GW portfolio of natural gas power plants to create a new IPP
- Macquarie GIG Renewable Energy Fund 2 in its acquisition of a 50% interest in a portfolio of residential solar assets, and associated joint venture arrangement
- Infrastructure fund in its bid to acquire an owner and operator of a 250 MW portfolio of residential solar assets
- Infrastructure fund its bid to acquire a 142 MW portfolio of geothermal projects
- Infrastructure fund in its bid to acquire a 1.6 GW portfolio of wind, geothermal, solar and storage assets
- Private equity fund in its bid to acquire Vivint Solar
- ArcLight Clean Transition Corp. and ArcLight Clean Transition Corp. II, SPACs formed by ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC to target companies in the clean energy ecosystem, in their respective $250m and $275 million IPOs
- Macquarie Infrastructure Partners II in the sale of Broadrock Renewables (a landfill-to-gas energy business) to an affiliate of EDL Energy
- Renewables private equity fund in its acquisition of a portfolio of SRECs from a leading solar developer
- Newlight Capital in its investment in Leyline Renewable Capital, a provider of development capital for renewable energy projects, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Private equity fund in its investment in a management platform to develop and acquire wind projects in Brazil, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Infrastructure fund in its acquisition of tax equity interests in a 354 MW portfolio of wind farms
- Investors in their potential investment in a 360 MW wind farm in Texas, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Avangrid Renewables in its equityholder arrangements with Pattern Energy for the 298 MW El Cabo wind farm
- Energy Capital Partners in its sale of Wheelabrator Technologies, a leading owner and operator of waste-to-energy facilities
- Invenergy in its sale of Forward Energy Center, a 129 MW wind-powered generation facility in Wisconsin to a consortium of Wisconsin utility buyers
- Panda Power Funds in it sale of interests Pilesgrove solar project to ConEd
- Terra-Gen Power in its sale of a 653 MW portfolio of wind, solar, and geothermal assets to Energy Capital Partners
- ArcLight Capital Partners in its equity arrangements with Leeward Energy, a developer of wind, solar and storage facilities.
- Invenergy in its sale of an 80% interest in a holding company that owns Upstream Energy Center, a 202.5 MW wind-powered generation facility under construction in Nebraska, to an affiliate of WEC Energy Group, Inc., and associated equityholder arrangements
- Energy private equity fund in its potential acquisition of a 1240 MW hydroelectric generation portfolio in PJM
- Orion Energy Partners in its equityholder arrangements with Future Energy Solutions (a provider of energy efficient lighting)
- NRG Energy, Inc. in its cooperation agreements with affiliates of Elliott Management Corporation and Bluescape Energy Partners LLC
- Terra-Gen Power in its sale of the 947 MW “Alta Wind” portfolio of operating wind farms in California to NRG Yield, Inc.
- ArcLight Capital Partners its acquisition of owner participation interests in the 192 MW Sidney A. Murray, Jr. Hydroelectric Station
- Siemens Financial Services in its potential investment in the 468 MW Cape Wind Project in Massachusetts, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Financial consortium in its sale of 210 MW operating wind farms and 732 MW in wind development projects in Brazil to a subsidiary of CPFL Energia S.A.
- Public Private Partnership Unit of the Ministry of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in connection with the Baghdara Hydroelectric Project (pro bono advisory work)
Conventional Power & Utilities
- An infrastructure fund in its acquisition of GridTek Utility Services, a provider of repair, maintenance, installation and upgrade services for electric transmission and distribution infrastructure
- ArcLight Capital Partners in its investment in OnPoint Energy, a retail electric provider focused on residential, commercial and industrial retail electricity solutions
- Blackstone Energy Partners in the sale of its 1108 MW Lonestar II Generation Holdings portfolio in ERCOT to a subsidiary of Atlas Holdings
- Macquarie Asset Management and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board in their joint acquisition of a 31.6% stake in Puget Holdings, owner utility Puget Sound Energy in Washington, from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
- Blackstone Energy Partners in its sale of GridLiance, an independent pure-play transmission utility company, to NextEra Energy Transmission Investments
- TexGen Power, an IPP owning and operating a 2200 MW portfolio of CGGT power generation facilities in ERCOT, in its equityholder arrangements
- Infrastructure fund in its potential minority investment in an LNG-to-power facility in El Salvador and associated equityholder arrangement
- Energy private equity fund in its investment in a 1240 MW coal-fired power plant and a 2200 MW CCGT project in development, and associated joint venture arrangement
- Infrastructure fund in its joint bid to acquire Santee Cooper, and associated equityholder arrangements
- IPP in its potential acquisition of a 1000 MW CGGT power plant in development PJM
- Macquarie Infrastructure Partners III in the sale of a 10% and 5% indirect interest in Lordstown Energy Center, a 940 MW gas-fired combined cycle facility in Ohio, to subsidiaries of Sumitomo Corporation and Development Bank of Japan, respectively, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Private equity fund in its bid to acquire a 1830 MW portfolio of CCGT power plants in PJM and ISO-NE
- Infrastructure fund in its joint bid to acquire Jacksonville Electric Authority, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Invenergy in its sale to, and joint venture with, AMP Capital Global Infrastructure Fund II for the continued development, construction, ownership and operation of its 3473 MW thermal generation portfolio
- Macquarie Infrastructure Partners funds in their disposition of interests in Puget Holdings LLC (owner of Puget Sound Energy, a regulated utility)
- Infrastructure fund in its potential acquisition of a 1085 MW CGGT power plant in development in PJM
- IPP in its potential acquisition of a retail electricity provider operating across 5 states
- Goldman Sachs, Inc. in its sale of Cogentrix Energy LLC (North American power generation assets) to The Carlyle Group’s infrastructure fund
- Panda Power Funds in various equity investments and sales of interests in power generation assets, including the Liberty, Patriot, Stonewall, Hummel Station and Shamokin Dam natural gas-fired combined cycle facilities, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Infrastructure fund in its potential take-private acquisition of a regulated utility
- Energy Capital Partners, in its sale a 1055 MW combined cycle, combustion turbine power plant in ERCOT to a subsidiary of Koch Resources, LLC
- Private equity fund in its potential acquisition of a 1295 MW portfolio of natural gas-fired power plants in ERCOT
- Private equity fund in its potential acquisition of a 1380 MW portfolio of natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plants and a natural gas-fired simple-cycle peaking unit in CAISO and PJM
- Energy Capital Partners its acquisition of a 444 MW natural gas and oil-fired generation facility in PJM from a consortium including Quintana Infrastructure & Development, Starwood Energy, and Blackrock
- Private equity fund in its potential acquisition of a 2694 MW portfolio of gas-fired combined-cycle power plants, natural gas peaking and oil-fired peaking units in CAISO
- Private equity fund in its potential acquisition of a 5200 MW portfolio of coal and natural-gas fired power plants
- Invenergy in its equity financing for the Lackawanna Energy Center, a 1485 MW natural gas fired combined cycle power plant in PJM with First Reserve, and associated joint venture arrangement
- A regulated utility in its potential acquisition of a power plant in NYISO
Other Infrastructure
- UBS Asset Management (Infrastructure – the Americas) in its consortium arrangements with H.R.L. Morrison & Co. and Australian Retirement Trust in connection with the acquisition of FiberLight, one of the largest pure-play fiber infrastructure providers in the U.S.
- Infrastructure fund in its potential acquisition of a short rail line owner
- Infrastructure fund its co-investment in a rail leasing and related asset management business
- Basalt Infrastructure Partners LLC in its acquisition of Xpress Natural Gas, an integrated compressed natural gas provider operating in the U.S. and Canada
- BWC Terminals in its acquisition of Texas City terminals from NuStar Energy
- StarAmerica Infrastructure Partners in its sale to Tikehau Capital, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Infrastructure fund in its potential investment in a marina infrastructure business
- JPMorgan Funds Limited and JPMorgan Investment Management - Infrastructure Investment Group in the acquisition of Contanda, a provider of bulk liquid storage and logistics services, from EQT Infrastructure II Fund
- United Pacific, a leading convenience store and gas station operator, in its acquisition of 95 gas stations and convenience stores from Platinum Energy
- Fortress Investment Group, in its sale of a 50% interest in United Pacific to Phillips 66, and associated joint venture arrangement
- ArcLight Capital Partners in its acquisition (with BP Products North America) of Thorntons Inc., an owner and operator retail gas stations, and associated joint venture arrangement, subsequent equity syndication and sale of its stake to BP
- A consortium of Russian-domiciled funds in its investment in an 8 million metric ton per year LPG export facility in Louisiana, and associated equityholder arrangements
- ArcLight Capital Partners in numerous midstream acquisitions, dispositions and investments, including its sale of a 49.9% stake and subsequent sale of 25% and 25.1% stakes of Third Coast Midstream, respectively, to a global infrastructure fund and ArcLight continuation fund, its $400m investment in Camelback Midstream, a platform formed to acquire and develop midstream infrastructure assets, and associated equityholder arrangements, its equity arrangements with Republic Midstream, a gathering, storage and transportation company, its investment in the development and construction of a floating production system, “Delta House,” and associated lateral pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico, and associated equityholder arrangements, its drop-down sales to American Midstream Partners of interests in Trans-Union Pipeline, Destin, Tri-States and Wilprise Pipelines and Delta House facilities
- Orion Energy Partners in its equity holder arrangements with Keystone (owner and operator of the Keystone Jacksonville Terminal), Origin Americas (owner of a liquid bulk storage terminal) and Mohegan Energy Trustees (owner of a metallurgical coal processing facility)
- Integra Telecom in its reorganization
- Global Infrastructure Partners in its sale of its 50% interest in Access Midstream Partners, and its general partner to The Williams Companies Inc.
- Greatwide Logistics in its equity exchange transaction with Cardinal Logistics
- Tervita Corporation in the sale of its U.S.-based waste disposal services business to Republic Services, Inc.
- Israel Chemicals Limited in the $1 billion sale of its fire safety and oil additives business to SK Capital
- Private equity fund in its potential acquisition of interests in an oil & gas floating production unit and two crude oil & natural gas production facilities, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Private equity fund in its potential PIPE investment in an independent oil & gas exploration company
- A water technology company in the creation of a strategic joint venture in Asia and the development and financing of FPSO's
- Private equity fund in its acquisition of an internet of things company
- ATMI Inc. in its acquisition of proprietary gas delivery technology from Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc.
- Private equity fund in its investment in a port terminal to process and store petroleum coke in Colombia, and associated equityholder arrangements
- Private equity fund in its potential acquisition of refinery and downstream assets in the Southwestern U.S.
- Centerbridge Partners, L.P. in its reorganization of a transportation logistics company, and associated equityholder arrangements
- NET Midstream and ArcLight Capital Partners in their investment in the development and construction of the Agua Dulce Pipeline, extending 124-miles from Texas to the U.S.-Mexico border, with an affiliate of state-controlled Petróleos Mexicanos, and associated joint venture arrangement
- Private equity fund in its potential take private acquisition of an independent natural gas storage company
- GE Oil & Gas in its joint ventures with Al-Shaheen Energy Services (a subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum) and Ali Abdulla Al Tamimi Company
*Some matters occurred prior to joining Kirkland
Prior Experience
Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
More
Thought Leadership
Seminars
Moderator, "Panel on Infrastructure," 2022 Wharton Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference, April 1, 2022
Publications
Co-author with Sean Wheeler, Roald Nashi & Robert Fleishman. “Energy Mergers & Acquisitions Review,” The Law Reviews, January 2021
Recognition
“21 in '21: Women in Power” list by The Kayo Conference Series. The list profiles 21 pioneers in the power and renewable energy sectors deploying capital, innovation and collaboration to transform the grid
Recognized as a "Next Generation Lawyer" by The Legal 500 United States for Energy Transactions: Conventional Power, 2021–2023
Recognized by The Legal 500 United States for Energy: Renewable/Alternative Power, 2020, 2022 and 2023; and Energy Transactions: Conventional Power, 2020
Selected to the Transforming Women’s Leadership in the Law Rising Stars Cohort (sponsored by Thomson Reuters Legal and Legal Executive Institute)
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- New York
Languages
- English
- Arabic
- French
- Spanish
Education
- University of LondonLL.M.2009
- Columbia Law SchoolJ.D.2008
Parker School Recognition of Achievement in Comparative and International Law
- Harvard UniversityA.M.2004
- Yale CollegeB.A.2001