Press Release
| April 30, 2009
Dewey & LeBoeuf Advises China's CNPC E&D On $3.3 Billion Kazakhstan Oil and Gas Acquisition
(Beijing, London, Almaty, April 30, 2009) - Dewey & LeBoeuf advised CNPC Exploration and Development Company Ltd. (CNPC E&D) on its investment in JSC Mangistaumunaigas (MMG), a major oil producer in Kazakhstan.
On April 16, CNPC E&D and JSC National Company KazMunaiGas (KMG) announced their signing of an agreement to purchase 100 percent of the ordinary voting shares of MMG from Central Asia Petroleum Ltd.
The acquisition will be made through Mangistau Investments B.V., a joint venture entity formed and owned on a 50:50 basis by CNPC E&D and KMG. The agreed consideration is $3.3 billion, subject to customary closing adjustments. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of July 2009, following receipt of necessary regulatory approvals. The Export-Import Bank of China will be providing debt financing to the joint venture.
MMG is one of the largest privately owned and one of the major oil-producing companies in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It holds licenses for exploration and development of 15 oil and gas fields, and exploration licenses for a group of offshore fields located in the Caspian Sea and gas fields in West Kazakhstan through its subsidiaries.
The transaction represents a significant step for Chinese companies to make international investments, especially in the background of the current economic environment.
CNPC E&D is a joint venture owned 50:50 by China National Oil & Gas Exploration and Development Corporation, the wholly owned international investment arm of CNPC, and PetroChina, the listed subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation. CNPC is the largest state-owned oil company engaged in the exploration, production and distribution of crude oil and natural gas in China and internationally.
JSC National Company KazMunaiGas is the national oil company of the Republic of Kazakhstan, representing the interests of the state in the upstream and downstream oil and gas sector. KMG is a wholly owned subsidiary of JSC Sovereign Wealth Fund "Samruk-Kazyna.”
Dewey & LeBoeuf advised CNPC E&D on the transaction and the financing from The Export-Import Bank of China. The team was led by Beijing Managing Partner Ingrid Wenying Zhu-Clark and London Partner Brian Zimbler. Dewey & LeBoeuf lawyers who also played key roles in this transaction include: Partners Dirk Walker (Beijing), Bruce Johnston (London) and Amanda Jennings (London); Beijing Local Partner Gang Yuan; Senior Associates Chi Chang (London), Amy Comer (London) and Arman Tastanbekov (Almaty); and Associates Jordan Brandt (Beijing) and Bakhytzhan Kadyrov (Almaty).
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