Linklaters, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and White & Case are advising as Glencore and the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA) offer to take a €10.5bn stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft.
The privatisation deal for 19.5% of Rosneft is yet to be completed, with the Russian state-owned oil firm forced to negotiate the sale around international sanctions. Despite the volatility of the transaction, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a public statement confirming the deal.
Legal Business understands Linklaters is advising Glencore, a long term client of senior partner Charlie Jacobs. Corporate partner and mining sector head David Avery-Gee is also a key adviser to the mining giant. Others from Linklaters team on the deal include finance partner Toby Grimstone and corporate partner Hugo Stolkin.
Cleary Gottlieb is advising the QIA on its side of the deal, while White & Case has been employed by Rosneft on the deal, with Doha-based corporate partner Michiel Visser understood to be acting on the transaction.
The deal to acquire the stake in Rosneft has been highly contentious due to sanctions against Russia from the US and the European Union. Glencore said it would commit just €300m in equity for around 220,000 barrels of oil a day, with the funds for the acquisition of shares provided by QIA.
On Wednesday (7 December), the Kremlin issued a press release claiming the privatisation deal for 19.5% of Rosneft had been completed.
However, Glencore subsequently released a statement claiming the company was still in ‘final stage negotiations’ on the deal.
In another recent mandate for Glencore earlier this year, Linklaters’ Avery-Gee advised on a $2.5bn sale of a stake in its agricultural arm to a Canadian pension fund, which was advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Linklaters, Cleary Gottlieb and White & Case all declined to comment.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk
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