The deal closed on Friday, 13 months after Sinopec′s US$7.1 billion acquisition of a stake in Spanish oil company Repsol’s Brazilian assets, for which the Chinese company used the same law firms.
In this deal Lefosse Advogados advised the sellers in Brazil, working alongside the Netherlands office of its association firm, Linklaters.
Vinson & Elkins drew on its offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Houston and London, working alongside Machado Meyer′s lawyers in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
As part of the deal, Sinopec will pay US$4.8 billion in a capital increase, followed by a shareholder loan to Galp subsidiary Petrogal Brasil worth around US$390 million.
Machado Meyer partner Ricardo de Lima Assaf began advising Sinopec in August, after Vinson & Elkins had set up the deal. He says that in terms of Brazilian law there were few differences to the Repsol deal of 2010.
Assaf sees the second multi-billion dollar deal as part of the trend of divestment from European companies affected by current turmoil in the Eurozone: “Brazil became a good investment alternative for those who have to diversify their portfolios that were highly-exposed to the dollar and euro.” This is especially true for Chinese corporations, Assaf adds, which are driven to take advantage of the abundance of natural resources in Brazil to support their domestic growth.
Lefosse partner Carlos Mello has been involved in the deal since March, advising Galp in its hunt for international investors to develop its exploration operations. Interest in the “hugely important” pre-salt reserves has been global, Mello says, and suggests that Brazil is a natural target for the state-owned Chinese corporation.
Leading the deal for Galp under “difficult market conditions”, Mello is also seeing a shift away from traditional centres of corporate law: “We are more often seeing investments that are channeled directly into the relevant jurisdictions rather than through London or New York.”
Counsel to Sinopec
Vinson & Elkins LLP
China
Partners Jay Kolb and David Blumental, and associates Nicholas Song, Tju Liang Chua, Nancy Tsui Chung, Jessica Yu and Yin Tingting
US
Associates Tim Chandler and Daniel Allison
UK
Partner Mark Coker
Brazil
Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados
Partners Ricardo de Lima Assaf and Leonardo Miranda, and associate Maria Julia Florencio
Counsel to Galp Energia
In-house counsel - Rui Mauyer and Joao Correia
Brazil
Lefosse Advogados in cooperation with Linklaters
Partner Carlos Mello and associates Bruno Bercito and Paulo Guimaraes
The Netherlands
Linklaters
Partner Pieter Riemer and associates Anouk Oosterom and Gijs Smit
(Latin Lawyer 15.11.2011)
(Notícia na Íntegra)
