Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) have advised India’s Essar Group in a $12.9 billion deal to sell a 98 percent stake in its Essar Oil unit to a group led by Russian oil giant Rosneft, which tapped Linklaters and Talwar Thakore & Associates for counsel.
Rosneft will get a 49 percent stake in the company while 24 percent will go to Russian investment group United Capital Partners (UCP) and European trading firm Trafigura. UCP turned to Herbert Smith Freehills while Transfigura sought Slaughter and May and J. Sagar Associates for advice. The all-cash transaction, which is expected to be finalised by January 2017, is said to be the largest-ever FDI deal into India and the biggest outbound acquisition by Russia.
London-based partner Samuel Newhouse oversaw the acquisition for Freshfields while the Linklaters team was headed by corporate partner Savi Hebbur. Managing partner Cyril Shroff, supported by partners Amita Choudary Katragadda, Ravi Kumar and Anchal Dhir, led CAM's deal team. Partners Sandeep Mehta and Srabonee Roy handled the transaction for JSA.
The investor group will pay $10.9 billion for Essar's refining and retail assets. Another $2 billion will go towards purchasing around 2,700 pumps as well as a port terminal and power plant. The deal will help Essar, which also operates ports and steel mills, slash debt by more than 50 percent.
