Blank Rome Represents FirstElement Fuel in Multimillion-Dollar FCEV Investments from Mitsui and JBIC
A Blank Rome team represented FirstElement Fuel, Inc. (“FirstElement”), with regard to a $25 million investment from Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and a $23 million investment from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (“JBIC”). The transaction closed on June 16, 2020.
FirstElement is the biggest developer and operator of hydrogen stations in California. With around 8,300 light-duty fuel cell electric vehicles (“FCEVs”) on its roads as of April 2020, California is the world’s biggest FCEV market. This latest capital raise, which follows a previous capital raise in March 2019, will be used to expand FirstElement's existing hydrogen-station network and allow FirstElement to collaborate with Mitsui on multiple initiatives to reduce the costs associated with FCEVs and expand into new business areas and regions.
For more information on the transaction, please read Mitsui invests $25m in FirstElement Fuel (Mitsui Press Release, June 17, 2020) and Equity Participation in FirstElement Fuel Inc. in the United States (JBIC Press Release, June 17, 2020).
The Blank Rome team was led by Los Angeles corporate attorneys Jason S. Kim, Jonathan T. Keen, and Justin A. Stein, with valuable assistance from Shadi Enos Jahangir, George T. Boggs, Joseph M. Doloboff, Joshua A. Bachrach, and Jose A. Manalo Jr..