Chrysaor Acquires North Sea Assets from Shell UK Limited for US$3 Billion

Dechert LLP advised Chrysaor Holdings Limited (“Chrysaor”), the UK oil & gas independent, on its acquisition of a package of assets in the UK North Sea from Shell UK Limited and its affiliates (“Shell’’) for US$3 billion. Future additional payments may be made between the two companies, contingent upon exploration results and commodity prices. The transaction is subject to regulatory and partner consents and is expected to complete in the second half of 2017.

The package represents part of Shell’s pledged $30bn of disposals from its global portfolio before 2018 following its takeover of BG Group and consists of Shell’s interests in Buzzard, Beryl, Elgin-Franklin, J-Block, the Greater Armada cluster, Everest, Lomond and Erskine, plus a 10% stake in Schiehallion. On completion of the acquisition, Chrysaor will become the leading UK independent E&P company focused on the North Sea. .

The London-based Dechert team is advising Chrysaor on the terms of the acquisition, as well as its equity, and certain of its debt, financing for the purposes of the transaction. The team was led by corporate partner Jonathan Angell, along with corporate senior associates Mike Jarrett, Jodie Valler-Feltham and Jessica Tschirdewahn. Additional team members include employment partner Charles Wynn-Evans and senior associate Jennifer McGrandle, tax senior associate Daniel Hawthorne, and antitrust/competition partner Clemens York in Frankfurt.

Phil Kirk CEO of Chrysaor commented “Jonathan and his team performed exceptionally and delivered an extraordinary level of service and insight to help us land what is a landmark deal for the sector. I can’t thank them enough.”

This deal is the latest in a series of high-profile transactions facilitated by Dechert’s expanding global corporate and finance teams in London. Over the last few weeks, corporate partner Ross Allardice (M&A) and global finance partner John Markland (private equity finance) co-led the team advising Magyar Telecom B.V. on the sale of its holding in the Invitel Group to the China CEE Investment Co-operation Fund. Corporate partners Graham Defries and Andrew Harrow led the firm’s work as UK and US counsel to the shareholders of Ziarco Group Limited, a Pfizer spinout formed in 2012 and focused on the development of novel treatments in dermatology, in its sale to Novartis Pharma AG. A cross-border team recently advised J.H. Whitney Capital Partners, LLC, a U.S.-headquartered private equity firm, in its acquisition of 3B Scientific, which is headquartered in Germany with 15 subsidiaries around the globe.

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