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Santos makes strategic purchase of ConocoPhillips
Clayton Utz has advised ConocoPhillips on completion of US$1.39 billion sale of Australia-West assets to Santos Limited.
Tony Zhang
Firms: Clayton Utz (ConocoPhillips)
The deal was announced to the market on 13 October 2019.
Value: $2.2 billion.
Area: M&A, energy and resources.
Key players: Clayton Utz team was led by corporate partner and oil and gas specialist Emma Covacevich, working alongside ConocoPhillips’ legal, tax and commercial teams on all aspects of the strategic sale process.
Other core team members were partners Peter Feros (tax), Saul Harben (workplace relations), Cameron Gascoyne (IT/IP) and senior associate Katy Warner (corporate, energy and resources).
Deal Significance: The lower prices and uncertain outlook for oil demand have helped Santos get a small discount on the announced purchase price for ConocoPhillips’ Northern Australia and Timor-Leste assets.
ConocoPhillips’ Australian and East Timorese assets comprise a 37.5 per cent interest in the Barossa project and Caldita field, its 56.9 per cent interest in the Darwin LNG facility and Bayu-Undan field, its 40 per cent interest in the Poseidon field, and its 50 per cent interest in the Athena field.
It will retain its 37.5 per cent interest in the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) project.
Ms Covacevich said the Clayton Utz team appreciated the opportunity to work with the ConocoPhillips team on such a strategically significant transaction, and to see it through to successful completion.
“This transaction marks the end of an era for ConocoPhillips and its involvement in developing some of Australia’s and East Timor’s most iconic oil and gas developments,” she said.
“It is always satisfying to be involved in a transaction that requires us to bring together a range of specialist experience and work collaboratively to navigate the legal and commercial complexities that go hand in hand with a deal of this scale. We warmly congratulate both ConocoPhillips and Santos on this milestone.”
