03-21-2014, 11:50 PM
'Palm' pid='39600' dateline='<a href="tel:1395408 Wrote:Actually the OSH buy-in was done over a 13-day intense period. Still pretty darn quick.
King & Wood Mallesons Guides $900M South Pacific Gas Deal
Law360, New York (February 27, 2014, 2:56 PM ET) -- Oil Search Ltd. has purchased a stake in a mammoth untapped natural gas region in Papua New Guinea from Pacific LNG Group Cos. for $900 million, the companies announced Thursday.
In a move that expands its already large energy footprint in the region, Papua New Guinea-based Oil Search purchased a 22.835 percent stake in Petroleum Retention License 15 — which covers the Elk and Antelope fields, the country's largest undeveloped gas resource.
An attorney for Pacific LNG, an emerging markets-focused affiliate of Zurich-based investment firm Clarion Finanz AG, said the deal coalesced rapidly.
“While every negotiation has its ups and downs and we had several very long and tense days and nights toward the end, the commitment to a fundamentally good deal for both parties, and the mutual respect of both teams for one another, were the key ingredients to making this important deal come together so quickly,” Daniel R. Rogers of King & Spalding LLP told Law360 in an email. “The transaction essentially came together and was agreed and signed following a 13-day period of intensive negotiations, which occurred mainly in Singapore. For a transaction of this scale and magnitude, I have never seen a deal move faster than this one.”
Rogers divides his time between the firm's Singapore and Houston offices.
Oil Search, the largest oil and gas producer in Papua New Guinea, has additional offices in oil-rich Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Yemen and Tunisia.
With the acquisition, Oil Search joins forces with InterOil Corp., a majority owner of the license. InterOil, an Australian oil and gas company with a market cap approaching $3 billion, owns 75.6114 percent of Petroleum Retention License 15.
“This partnership [with Oil Search] will enable us to tap these energy resources more quickly and cost-effectively — and that translates into real financial benefits for Papua New Guinea and the shareholders of the companies involved,” InterOil CEO Michael Hession said in a statement. “Oil Search is a logical partner for us in developing these large gas resources."
The remaining 1.5536 percent of the license is owned by a group of independent investors including French energy company Total SA, to which InterOil agreed to sell a stake of its interest in the license in December.
"We welcome Oil Search into our development of Elk-Antelope with Total [SA] and look forward to an even closer cooperation with the people and government of Papua New Guinea in the years ahead,” Hession said in the statement.
A representative for Oil Search couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
Oil Search had counsel from King & Wood Mallesons with a team led by Adrian Perkins that included James Slimnicanovski and Adrian Slack.
King & Spalding LLP represented Pacific LNG with a team led by Daniel R. Rogers and Benjamin R. Newland
Palm thanks for keeping me on my toes.
Quick is good.