Press Release
| October 1, 2008
Dewey & LeBoeuf Advises Chevron On The Sale Of Its West African Fuels Marketing Businesses
(Paris, October 1, 2008) - Dewey & LeBoeuf is advising Chevron in connection with the sale of its fuels marketing affiliates in six west African countries.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, Chevron Africa Holdings Limited, has entered into agreements for the sale of Chevron Nigeria Holdings Limited, a Bermudan company that holds 60 per cent of the issued shares of Chevron Oil Nigeria PLC, a publicly listed operator and owner of downstream marketing assets in Nigeria; the entire share capital of wholly owned fuels marketing subsidiaries in Benin, Cameroon, Congo and the Ivory Coast; and a 65 per cent shareholding in Chevron Togo SA. Completion of the sales is subject to customary regulatory and other conditions precedent. The businesses being sold include more than four hundred service stations in Nigeria and over two hundred service stations in the other countries concerned.
The purchaser is Corlay Global SA, a Panamanian company owned by MRS Holdings Limited, an affiliate of the Nigeria-based MRS Group and Petroci Holding. MRS Group is one of Nigeria's leading integrated marketing, distribution, shipping, international trading and logistics companies. Petroci is the state oil company of the Ivory Coast.
The sale agreements have been entered into following a competitive process in respect of which Chevron is also being advised by BNP Paribas.
The Dewey & LeBoeuf team is being led by corporate partner Stephen Walters and senior counsel and head of the Paris Office Africa practice, Jean Claude Petilon. They are supported by counsel Béatrice Bihr and a team of lawyers in the firm's Paris and London offices, who are working closely with Mike Jeffs of Chevron's legal department.
Jean-Claude Petilon said: "We have for many years represented Chevron's legacy Caltex operations on various matters in Africa. We are honoured to have been selected, from a number of firms considered for the role, to represent Chevron in this challenging project and delighted to have assisted the Chevron team in achieving the successful execution of the agreements with Corlay Global. Multi-jurisdictional M&A transactions of this size and complexity remain fairly rare on the African continent and our involvement further illustrates the key role of our Paris office in Dewey & LeBoeuf's pre-eminent Africa practice".
Corlay Global is represented on this transaction by Herbert Smith (a Paris Office team led by partners Laurent Vandomme and Bruno Bassuyaux).
This memorandum is intended only as a general discussion of these issues. It is not considered to be legal advice. We would be pleased to provide additional details or advice about specific situations. For additional information on this important topic, please feel free to call upon your Dewey & LeBoeuf relationship partner. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form, without our prior written consent.
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