

Geral
Mayer Brown’s Aerospace & Defense group combines multidisciplinary and cross-jurisdictional lawyers with extensive experience in the defense and aerospace sectors. We advise companies at all levels of the supply chain, giving us a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges this sector presents.
When clients pursue acquisitions, joint ventures, new market entry, or financing, Mayer Brown brings together corporate, finance, and regulatory lawyers to deliver deal execution that anticipates and resolves the unique complexities of defense transactions, such as export licensing, national security reviews (including CFIUS), and foreign direct investment screening.
We advise on a broad range of regulatory matters, including competition, government contracts compliance, export controls and sanctions, business integrity, and disputes. We design and implement compliance programs, and we support our clients in investigations and engagement with government regulators. We advise our clients on day-to-day operational needs, including commercial contracts, procurement, cybersecurity and data privacy, employment, and intellectual property.
Our practice is distinguished by our ability to advise at the intersection of these disciplines and our clients’ supply chain resiliency and competitive positioning. Regulatory action, particularly when sudden or unexpected, can result in significant disruptions and changes to supply chain availability, access to the US market and the overall competitive landscape of companies operating in that sector. We help clients anticipate, respond to, and capitalize on these shifts, ensuring that legal strategy aligns with broader commercial objectives.
Representative Matters
- Advised Sabena Technics on the full acquisition of the Héli-Union Group to become a European leader in military maintenance.
- Advised Sagard, Bpifrance, and TowerBrook in the acquisition of Sabena Technics, an aircraft maintenance company for civil and military business.
- Advised Sullivan Street Partners on its agreement to acquire the Aerostructures division of Senior Plc.
- Advised a FTSE100 company on a complex carve-out transaction and sale of part of its aerospace business in the United Kingdom and United States to a large US corporation.
- Advised Intuitive Machines, a leading space technology, infrastructure, and services company, on its acquisition of Lanteris Space Systems.
- Advised The Jordan Company in the sale of VT Group Holdings, Inc., a government services provider that delivers multidomain modernization and digital transformation solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Intelligence Community, to an affiliate of A&M Capital Advisors, LP.
- Advising an export credit agency on financing of the AfricaSat 1A satellite.
- Advising a German bank on the export financing of equipment for UN units.
- Represented a global bank, as administrative agent, in a revolving and term loan credit facility, for a domestic company involved in the aerospace and defense engineering industry, as borrower.
- Represented Sullivan Street Partners in its senior ABL and mezzanine acquisition financing for the Aerostructures division of Senior Plc.
- Advised a major European defense company on export control compliance during its consent agreement with the US State Department.
- Developed and deployed a compliance remediation solution for a major UK aerospace company in the wake of export control enforcement action by HM Revenue & Customs and adverse audit findings by the Export Control Joint Unit.
- Advised a major European aerospace and defense company on the development of its export control and sanctions program in response to voluntary disclosures to OFAC and the US Commerce Department BIS.
- Advised the aerospace and defense divisions of a major foreign company on the application of export/re-export control and sanctions laws to their operations, and successfully conducted multiple complex, cross-border investigations involving ITAR, EAR, OFAC and related regulatory regimes.
- Acted as lead counsel for a GCC defense contractor in connection with complex $800 million developmental aircraft and signal intelligence program involving sensitive defense trade procurement agreements with US and European OEMs.
- Advised Sullivan Street Partners on export control due diligence and associated procedures for the acquisition of the Aerostructures division of Senior Plc.
- Advised a European aerospace company, structuring cutting-edge global export licensing arrangements, to assist in obtaining sensitive US government approvals for global inventories of controlled goods and technologies to support customers around the world.
- Advised a leading US defense contractor in connection with complex compliance and large-scale disclosure reviews of hundreds of ITAR agreements in connection with consent decree obligations to the U.S. Department of State.
- Conducted a comprehensive compliance risk assessment and provided strategic counseling to a major aerospace joint venture engaged primarily in the development and sale of civil and military aircraft engines and parts.
- Advised the Boeing Company on the CFIUS aspects of the $10.55 billion sale of the company’s Jeppesen Digital Aviation Solutions business.
- Advised a European investor on the CFIUS implications of its acquisition of a US ballistic glass manufacturer.
- Advised Sullivan Street Partners on the CFIUS aspects of their acquisition of the Aerostructures division of Senior Plc.
- Advised a European producer of military defense equipment on antitrust and public procurement aspects.
- Advised a Middle Eastern conglomerate on merger control and foreign direct investment in its acquisition of civil and naval ships in Germany.
- Advised on multijurisdictional merger control and foreign direct investment for consolidation of military aircraft maintenance providers.
- Representing a contractor in litigation regarding US Air Force space launch sites.
- Represented a European defense company in an arbitration against an Asian government procurement agency.
- Represented a major aerospace company in international arbitrations involving a joint venture to develop a missile system.
- Represented numerous aerospace and defense contractors in bid protests and claims litigation involving contracts with US defense and space agencies.
- Advising defense contractors on their insider threat programs, to meet government customer expectations consistent with employment nondiscrimination laws.
- Investigating and remediating North Korean IT worker threats as well as conducting other insider threat investigations.
- Assisted defense contractors and FFRDCs with incident response consistent with DFARS 252.204-7012 and other reporting obligations to the government, recognizing the unique expectations of transparency that government customers have of their contractors.
- Helped a major aerospace company address a ransomware attack implicating their government solutions business;
- Assisted defense contractors with evaluating and improving their CMMC compliance.
In addition to the below, our Global Mobility & Migration team manages visa and work permit authorizations, alongside the full gamut of global mobility issues that clients may face, on a daily basis.
- Advised Safran in implementing an international employee share plan.
- Advised Exosens, a European leader in high-end electro-optical technologies for defense applications, on its first employee share offering.
- Advised Dassault Systèmes on its employee share ownership scheme.
- Advised Inspirit Capital on employment aspects of its acquisition of the civil/apprenticeship training and adult education business of Babcock International Group Plc, an engineering services organization providing support to the aerospace, defense, and security sectors.



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