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Mark E. Plotkin

Partner

Washington +1 202 662 5656

English
  • About
  • Representative Matters
  • Credentials
  • About

    Mark Plotkin is recognized as one of the nation's preeminent regulatory advocates, guiding global clients across industries through complex strategic reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). He has negotiated groundbreaking compliance and security arrangements that now serve as industry standards, and has advised on transactions with an estimated value of more than $500 billion.

    Clients and peers describe him as "dean of the CFIUS Bar" with an "unmatched history, experience and network" (Chambers USA). Chambers Global calls him "one of the top national security attorneys in the USA" with "extensive experience advising industry-leading names before the CFIUS panel." Mark has been ranked by Chambers in Band 1 for CFIUS Experts since the category’s inception. The American Lawyer has twice honored Mark as "Dealmaker of the Year" for landmark achievements: securing CFIUS clearance for GlobalFoundries' acquisition of IBM's semiconductor unit (2016) and defending Qualcomm from Broadcom's attempted hostile takeover (2019).

    Mark's practice also includes matters before the Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency (DCSA) requiring mitigation of foreign ownership, control or influence (FOCI), strategic telecommunications matters before Team Telecom, and matters involving emerging areas of national security-related regulations, including outbound investment screening.

    Mark’s earlier work helped shape today's financial landscape, securing regulatory approvals that enabled NCNB/NationsBank's and Bank One's evolution into Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase, respectively. Mark also advised such pioneering financial technology ventures as Mondex, BillPoint, AT&T Universal Card, and PayPal — efforts for which the National Law Journal deemed him a "regulatory and compliance trailblazer.”

    Mark earned his B.A. in history summa cum laude and with departmental honors from Yale College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree with honors from Harvard Law School. 

    A member of the American Law Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations, Mark has testified before Congress, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and the Uniform Law Commission. He served as co-editor of Regulation of Foreign Banks & Affiliates in the United States (Sixth Edition) and editor-in-chief of E-Commerce Law & Business. He previously taught American government at Harvard College and currently is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.

    From 2007 to 2011, Mark advised the Kingdom of Bhutan on its historic transition to a constitutional monarchy, working with His Majesty the King, the Royal Court of Justice, and the Royal Education Council. His commitment to pro bono service includes representation of indigent persons and nonprofit organizations, earning him recognition as the Charles F.C. Ruff Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year in 2016.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Practices and Industries
  • Representative Matters
    • Nexen Inc. in $15.1 billion sale to China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
    • CIT Group in $10.4 billion sale of its aircraft leasing business to Avolon Holdings (China).
    • Peugeot S.A. (France) in $48 billion combination with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. to form Stellantis N.V.
    • Thomson Reuters in $20 billion sale of a 55% interest in its Financial & Risk business to a consortium of Singapore’s GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Blackstone.
    • AerCap Holdings (Ireland) in $30 billion acquisition of GE Capital Aviation Services.
    • Deutsche Börse in proposed $9.5 billion acquisition of the New York Stock Exchange.
    • Renesas Electronics Corp. (Japan) in $6.3 billion acquisition of Integrated Device Technology, $5 billion acquisition of Dialog Semiconductor, $5.9 billion acquisition of Altium and $339 million acquisition of Transphorm.
    • Genworth Financial in $2.7 billion acquisition by China Oceanwide. 
    • KION Group (Germany) in $2.1 billion acquisition of Dematic.
    • GenesisCare (Australia) in $1 billion acquisition of 21st Century Oncology.
    • Micro Focus (UK) in $8.8 billion acquisition of software business of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
    • DiaSorin (Italy) in $1.8 billion acquisition of Luminex.
    • Intersil Corp. in $2.3 billion acquisition by Renesas Electronics Corp. (Japan).
    • Qualcomm in attempted $117 billion acquisition by Broadcom (Singapore).
    • Ford Motor Company in collaborative investment with Volkswagen AG (Germany) in Argo AI.
    • Carlyle Group in $1.9 billion sale of Landmark Aviation, Standard Aero to Dubai Aerospace (UAE).
    • AECOM in $2.4 billion sale of its management services business to form Amentum.
    • Washington Gas in $6.4 billion acquisition by AltaGas (Canada).

    • Schneider Electric (France) in $5.6 billion acquisition of Invensys plc, $3.8 billion combination with Aveva Group, $1.5 billion acquisition of RIB Software, and investment in Planon Beheer.
    • GKN in $11 billion acquisition by Melrose Industries (UK).
    • Applied Materials in multiple transactions.
    • Koch Industries in $2 billion sale of Invista Advanced Apparel & Textiles business to Shandong Ruyi (China).
    • Northrop Grumman in sale of its Viper Strike munitions business to MBDA (EU).
    • Temasek Holdings (Singapore) in multiple transactions.
    • Global Crossing in seminal 2003 acquisition by Singapore Technologies Telemedia.
    • China Oceanwide in acquisition of International Data Group.
    • Knorr-Bremse and Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems (Germany) in acquisition of R.H. Sheppard Co.
    • Presidio in $2.2 billion sale to BC Partners (UK).
    • Abu Dhabi National Energy Company in acquisition of tolling arrangement in the electric power industry. 
    • Naspers Limited/Prosus N.V. (South Africa) in multiple transactions.
    • Hong Kong Aircraft and Engineering Co. in $388 million acquisition of TIMCO Aviation.
    • Singapore Telecommunications Limited in $850 million acquisition of Trustwave.
    • GlobalFoundries (UAE) in $1.5 billion acquisition of IBM semiconductor foundries.
    • CNOOC (China) in $3 billion investment in oil and gas properties of Chesapeake Energy.
    • Sapient in $3.7 billion acquisition by Publicis Groupe (France).
    • Lenovo (China) in $2.3 billion acquisition of IBM’s x86-based server business.
    • IBM in $1.75 billion sale of its PC division to Lenovo, sale of a product lifecycle management software business to Dassault Systèmes, and $850 million sale of its point of sale systems business to Toshiba.
    • China National Chemical Corporation in $7.7 billion acquisition of Pirelli.
    • Stanley Inc. in $1 billion acquisition by CGI Group (Canada).
    • Align Aerospace in sale to Aviation Industry Corporation of China.
    • Borealis Infrastructure (Canada) in acquisition of Midland Cogeneration Venture and $320 million investment in wind farm assets of Energias de Portugal. 
    • Mubadala Investment Company (UAE) in multiple transactions.
    • Dassault Systèmes (France) in $750 million acquisition of Accelrys.
    • AOL in $188 million sale of ICQ instant messaging business to Mail.ru Group Limited (Russia).
    • British Telecommunications plc in multiple transactions.
    • American Express in sale of interest in business travel joint venture to Certares LP, Qatar Investment Authority, BlackRock Inc and Macquarie Capital.
    • e2v Technologies (UK) in $65 million acquisition of QP Semiconductor.
    • Datascope Corporation in $202 million sale of business unit to Mindray Medical Instruments (China). 
    • RELX Group (UK) in multiple transactions.
    • Greenhill & Co. in $591 million acquisition, through a special purpose acquisition company, of Iridium.
    • Pacific Telecom (Philippines) in acquisitions of Micronesian Telecommunications Corporation and of IT&E Overseas, Inc.
    • Murata Manufacturing in investment in 3D Glass Solutions.
    • DSV Group (Denmark) in $1.35 billion acquisition of UTi Worldwide.
    • View, Inc. in investment, through a special purpose acquisition company, by SoftBank Vision Fund.
    • BAE Systems, Inc. in multiple transactions, including $5.6 billion acquisition of Ball Aerospace, $4.1 billion acquisition of Armor Holdings, $1.9 billion acquisition of Collins Aerospace’s military GPS business, $352 million acquisition of Atlantic Marine, $275 million acquisition of Raytheon's airborne tactical radios business, acquisition of IAP Research, $300 million acquisition of Intelligence Services Group of L-1 Identity Solutions, $450 million acquisition of MTC Technologies, $28 million acquisition of Eclipse Electronics, $25 million acquisition of OASYS Technology, $14.7 million acquisition of Advanced Ceramics Research, acquisition of Signal Innovation Group, and proposed $45 billion combination with Airbus.
    • FastenTech in $492 million acquisition by Doncasters Group (UAE).
    • Shell in multiple transactions.
    • EDAC Technologies in $340 million sale of composites business to Meggitt PLC (UK).
    • Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in multiple transactions.
    • Energir/Gaz Metro (Canada) in $472 million acquisition of Central Vermont Public Service.
    • Intercell AG (Austria) in $189 million acquisition of Iomai.
    • SemiConductor Devices (Israel) in acquisition of Quantum Imaging.
    • Emerson & Cuming Microwave Products in sale to Laird Technologies (UK).
    • 3D Glass Solutions in sale of interest to Nagase & Co.

    FINANCIAL INSTITUTION TRANSACTIONS

    • NationsBank (and predecessors North Carolina National Bank and NCNB) in acquisitions of American Security Bank, Boatmen's Bancshares, CentraBank, Charter National Bank, C&S/Sovran, assets of First Republic Bank of Dallas, Maryland National Bank, and subsequent transactions to form Bank of America.
    • Bank One (and predecessor Banc One) in acquisitions of American Fletcher National Bank & Trust, First Security Corp. of Kentucky, Valley National Bank of Arizona, First Chicago NBD, Marine Bank, assets of MCorp Financial, Premier Bancorp, Team Bank, Themis Capital, and subsequent transactions to form J.P. Morgan Chase.
    • American Security Bank, N.A. in sale to Maryland National Bank.
    • AT&T Universal Card Services Corp. in acquisitions of Universal Bank, N.A. and Utah Financial Services.
    • Bank of Boston in acquisition of Baybank and subsequent acquisition by FleetBoston.
    • Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in multiple transactions.
    • First Interstate Bancorp in acquisition of Jefferson State Bank.
    • Forethought Financial Services and Hillenbrand Industries in organization of Forethought Federal Savings Bank and Forethought National TrustBank.
    • Irving Trust Company in acquisition by Bank of New York.
    • Riggs National Bank in acquisition of assets of National Bank of Washington.
    • Society Corp. in acquisitions of Ameritrust and Trustbank.
    • Suffolk Bancorp in defense against attempted hostile acquisition by North Fork Bancorp.
    • Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada in acquisitions of New London Trust Company and Danielson Federal Savings and Loan Association.

    Areas of Expertise

  • Credentials
    Education
    • Harvard Law School, J.D., 1987
        • cum laude
        • Board of Student Advisers
        • Harvard Journal on Legislation, Comments Editor
    • Yale University, B.A., 1983
        • summa cum laude
        • Phi Beta Kappa
        • Berkeley Fellowship
    Bar Admissions
    • District of Columbia
    Accolades
    • The American Lawyer, "2019 Dealmakers of the Year"
    • The American Lawyer, "2016 Dealmakers of the Year"
    • Law360, International Trade MVP (multiple years) 
    • China Law & Practice, “Outbound Deal of the Year” (2015)
    • Chambers USA (2006-present)
    • Chambers Global (2006-present)
    • National Law Journal, Regulatory & Compliance Trailblazer (2015)
    • Best Lawyers in America (multiple years)
    • Super Lawyers (multiple years)
    • Legal 500 US (multiple years)
    • Who's Who Legal (multiple years)
    • Washingtonian Magazine — Best Lawyers in Washington (multiple years)
    • Charles F.C. Ruff Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year (2016)
    Memberships and Affiliations
    • Member, American Law Institute
    • Life Member, Council on Foreign Relations
    • Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
    • Co-Editor, Regulation of Foreign Banks and Affiliates in the United States (West Publishing, 2012)
    • Editor-in-Chief, E-Commerce Law and Business (Aspen Publishing, 2003)
    • Class Secretary and Reunion Gift Chair, Yale University
    • Reunion Gift Chair, Harvard Law School
    • Board of Governors, Yale Alumni Association (2007-2010)
    • Teaching Fellow, Harvard College (1984-1986)
    • Life Member, National Eagle Scout Association

    Areas of Expertise

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