Shale Gas: CC and Morgan Lewis lead on $10bn Chevron Ukraine deal

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With major international firms angling to position themselves as leaders in the burgeoning shale gas field, Clifford Chance (CC) is advising energy giant Chevron on its $10bn shale gas exploration project with the Ukrainian government, a mammoth geopolitical deal which could see the region end its dependence on natural gas imported from Russia by 2020.

The Magic Circle firm, acknowledged as a top-tier firm in the oil and gas sector, is advising Chevron opposite US firm Morgan Lewis and Ukrainian independent Asters, which are advising the Ukrainian government and developing something of a track record for high value deals having advised Royal Dutch Shell on a similar value shale deal in Eastern Ukraine earlier this year. Continue reading “Shale Gas: CC and Morgan Lewis lead on $10bn Chevron Ukraine deal”

TNK-BP takeover saga ends in largest Russian deal ever

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The ongoing battle over what was to become of Russian oil joint venture (JV) TNK-BP finally concluded at the end of 2012, in one of the largest M&A deals of the year. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Linklaters all played lead roles on TNK-BP’s multibillion-dollar sale to Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft in December.

The deal has made Rosneft, advised by Cleary, the largest listed oil company in the world. However BP, represented by Linklaters, still has an almost 20% stake in the company after negotiating a cash plus shares sale worth $27bn. Continue reading “TNK-BP takeover saga ends in largest Russian deal ever”

Redrawing the map

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The latest boom in transactional work from emerging economies is a welcome antidote to difficult home markets for international firms. LB looks at the differing approaches to growth and who the clients of the future might be

It is easy to understand how law firms get carried away by the opportunities that new, emerging markets present. In the past five years there has been a rush to set up offices in places that a generation ago would have held little attraction. The shift of transactional power has now fundamentally moved to emerging economies led by Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries). Continue reading “Redrawing the map”

Russian cases for Russian lawyers

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Disputes from Russia and the CIS are an increasingly profitable area for Western firms, even for those without offices in the region. LB looks at how long the trend can continue

It’s a time bomb,’ says Dimitry Afanasiev, chairman of the Russian law firm Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners. ‘Given the fact that at some point some of these commercial contracts are going to blow up into a dispute then I think the English legal market is going to see Russian business for a long, long time.’ Continue reading “Russian cases for Russian lawyers”