Venezuela

Oil & Gas

Our Oil and Gas Team combines finance, environmental, government affairs and regulatory attorneys and professionals who work collaboratively with clients to

• develop or finance oil refineries and gas pipelines and related projects
• acquire or sell individual or portfolios of projects
• expand midstream products and services
• access and mitigate environmental and land use risks

with a keen understanding of the commercial issues driving successful projects and transactions.

Trade Controls, Sanctions, and OFAC

Our attorneys help clients navigate complex U.S. laws and issues related to international trade, investment, foreign corruption, and national security, combining legal and government relations experience to clarify obligations, risks, and opportunities in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape in a highly charge geopolitical trade environment. We provide sophisticated guidance on sanctions, trade controls and investment restrictions—whether imposed by executive order, statute, or federal agency—and help clients understand compliance requirements, anticipate risk, and respond to geopolitical developments affecting commercial activities.

Sanctions can take many forms, including financial restrictions, asset freezes, trade bans, non-tariff barriers, ex-im licensing requirements, restricted party and blocked persons lists and rules which may impact a wide range of industries and jurisdictions; our team represents multinational corporations, financial institutions, governments, and other entities with these issues.

By closely monitoring legal and political developments and offering practical advice tailored to each client’s needs, we help protect assets and reputations while helping clients evaluate and respond to developments to emerging legal challenges in geopolitical trade environment. In this context trade issues arise whether importing or exporting goods into the United States, exporting defense and dual-use items, or conducting cross-border transactions with foreign entities and nationals. As part of the Firm International Trade Team, we work to help clients develop compliance programs and navigate the trade and investment environment steering a course of legal compliance with confidence.

Mergers & Acquisitions 

Whether you are buying, selling, or merging with another business, Nelson Mullins’ M&A team has the experience and market knowledge you need to assist clients in structuring and closing transactions. Our services include industry consolidation, executing spin-offs, carve-outs, and divestitures, and partnering with private equity groups. 

Our experienced international practice group guides clients through complex cross-border business transactions, ensuring compliance with both U.S. and Venezuela regulations. We help clients with

• Foreign direct investment structuring
• Cross-border mergers and acquisitions
• Joint ventures and strategic alliances
• International contract negotiations
• Corporate governance and compliance

International Trade and Tariffs

We help clients manage complex legal and regulatory issues affecting global business operations, including importing goods into the United States, exporting defense and dual-use items, and conducting cross-border transactions with foreign entities and nationals. Our international trade team advises on building and maintaining import/export compliance programs, working with U.S. licensing and enforcement agencies, and responding to Customs inquiries, audits, detentions, seizures, and forfeitures. We also assist with Foreign Trade Zones, ITAR compliance and DDTC matters, OFAC sanctions and embargo restrictions, and tariff-related issues such as classification, valuation, country of origin, labeling, and transfer pricing. In addition, we help clients strengthen supply chain security and qualify for programs such as ISA and C-TPAT.

Project Financing 

Our project finance team advises on a full spectrum of financing structures across diverse industries, including equity and debt (such as back-levered debt), bonds and public finance, public-private partnerships, leveraged and inverted leases, sale-leasebacks, pass-through structures, and tax equity transactions for both project development and acquisitions or divestitures. We also structure supplemental financing solutions such as hedging arrangements, credit enhancements, mezzanine and subordinated debt, carried interests, and innovative insurance and derivative products, drawing on experience representing both lenders and borrowers. In the renewable energy sector, we regularly counsel on evolving financing models shaped by ITC and PTC changes, including reduced tax equity structures, increased use of layered debt, and intercreditor arrangements, and we have significant experience working with Department of Energy, USDA, Treasury grant, and related federal loan programs.

Capital Repatriation

Nelson Mullins assists clients by developing practical, compliant strategies to move funds across borders while minimizing tax exposure and regulatory risk. Drawing on experience in international tax, corporate structuring, banking, sanctions, and cross-border compliance, our attorneys help clients evaluate available repatriation pathways while navigating foreign exchange controls, withholding tax issues, and U.S. reporting obligations. With an integrated legal and government relations platform, Nelson Mullins is well positioned to help clients protect assets, manage geopolitical and enforcement risk, and execute repatriation plans efficiently in complex jurisdictions.

International Arbiration 

Our international arbitration practice group represents private and public entities of all scales in both commercial and investment treaty disputes involving high-profile and complex cross-border disputes relating to major commercial and infrastructure disputes. Our team works toward resolutions in matters that stretch across various governing rules, foreign borders, cultures, and jurisdictions.  The team has knowledge of all aspects of international arbitration disputes, from pre-arbitration settlement and litigation strategies to post-award enforcement proceedings.

Wealth Planning

Nelson Mullins’ Investment Management practice supports sponsors and investors by providing strategic legal guidance on organizing and operating investment vehicles, raising capital, conducting due diligence, and ensuring compliance with complex U.S. and international securities laws. The team helps evaluate and structure investment opportunities and transactions, navigate regulatory requirements, interact with regulators, and manage risks connected to fund formation, marketing, and ongoing operations. With a multidisciplinary approach and deep industry experience, Nelson Mullins helps clients align investment strategies with business goals and position their enterprises for long-term success in a dynamic regulatory landscape.

International Tax

Our international tax attorneys advise clients on tax-efficient inbound and outbound structures, helping them navigate both U.S. and foreign tax regimes with a focus on compliance and strategic planning. Drawing on decades of experience and strong relationships with foreign counsel, the firm’s International Taxation Group combines deep knowledge of international banking, real estate, finance, and tax with global cultural fluency and multilingual capabilities. The team includes seasoned practitioners from leading multinational firms, recognized thought leaders, adjunct professors, and Fellows of the American College of Tax Counsel. When matters require broader capabilities, the group collaborates seamlessly with other firm practices—including federal, state and local tax, estate planning, litigation, corporate, banking, and real estate—to deliver comprehensive, coordinated solutions.

Hospitality, Tourism & Leisure

Nelson Mullins’ Hospitality, Tourism & Leisure practice provides integrated legal support to clients across the hotel, restaurant, resort, and broader hospitality sectors, helping them buy, sell, develop, finance, lease, and operate their businesses while managing industry-specific risks. The firm assists with due diligence, structuring joint ventures and franchise/concession agreements, navigating regulatory, environmental, zoning, employment, and construction issues, and resolving disputes, drawing on a multidisciplinary team of real estate, corporate, tax, litigation, and finance lawyers. Serving hotel and restaurant chains, franchisors and franchisees, developers, club operators, investors, and REITs, Nelson Mullins offers practical, cost-efficient solutions designed to address legal and business objectives and position clients for long-term success in a complex regulatory landscape.

Franchising

We advise franchisors, multi-unit franchisees, and distribution businesses on the full range of legal and regulatory issues involved in developing, expanding, and operating franchise and distribution systems. Our team assists with franchise development and compliance, including preparing and updating franchise disclosure documents, drafting franchise and distribution agreements, obtaining state registrations, and advising on exemptions and relationship laws, as well as enforcing system standards and managing franchisee defaults, transfers, and terminations. We also support clients with transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, trademark protection, labor and employment matters, antitrust compliance, leasing and site acquisition, and issues involving advertising, supply chains, privacy, and data security. With experience across industries such as restaurants, hospitality, fitness, healthcare, automotive distribution, and service businesses, we provide practical business-focused guidance and dispute resolution support, including litigation and arbitration, while leveraging international counsel relationships and the firm’s broader multidisciplinary resources.

The following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.

• Extensive experience representing both buyers and sellers in mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions of companies, particularly in the energy and energy service sectors in the United States and World.
• Lead counsel in the acquisition of large independent with assets in Canada, Australia, Guatemala and Argentina and its related petroleum products businesses for a purchase price of approximately $3.6 billion.
• Lead acquisition counsel in the hostile takeover attempt of a large independent client with assets in numerous parts of the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, Australia, Venezuela and Azerbaijan, with an offer price of $6.4 billion.
• Lead counsel for an energy service company and its shareholders in connection with the sale of the company for $40 million to investors in the Middle East.
• Lead counsel in connection with the acquisitions of long-term concessions for water and wastewater facilities and oil and gas development properties throughout the United States and World.
• Lead counsel in the acquisition of a company with midstream pipelines, gathering and processing facilities in for a purchase price of $300 million.
• Lead counsel for an energy company in connection with its acquisition of a gas processing facility for $200 million.
• Represented a Canadian based public company with assets located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States in connection with redomiciling as a public company in the United States and certain financings.
• Represented an Australian based public company with respect to its acquisitions, financings and operational issues.
• Represented well known investment bank in rendering over 20 fairness opinions in connection with business combination transactions, recapitalizations, dispositions and acquisitions of assets, barges and vessels, and related party transactions throughout the World.
• Lead counsel for a water company in connection with some of the largest design-build and operator agreements in the water and wastewater business.
• Lead counsel for several German companies supplying equipment and vessels for work on offshore platforms, rigs, windfarms and energy projects throughout the World.
• Familiarity with BIMCO vessel and maritime contracts utilized throughout the World.
• Ranked Tier One in Houston Elite Legal 500 Energy Transaction and Ranked top tier in several other rating services in the legal energy industry.