Herbert Smith Freehills advises China's Silk Road Fund on investment in Russian petrochemical company

Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised China's Silk Road Fund on the successful completion of its investment in major Russian petrochemical company Sibur.

Lawyers from the firm's Beijing, Hong Kong, Moscow and Tokyo offices advised the fund on its acquisition of a 10% stake in Sibur from Leonid Mikhelson, chairman of the company's board and a major shareholder of Sibur Holding.

Herbert Smith Freehills has an outstanding track record in Silk Road and One Belt, One Road transactions, with key partners Danila Logofet, Monica Sun, Hilary Lau and Oleg Konnov regularly working between Greater China, Russia and other regions to complete complex Chinese investment deals.

The firm's track record in these investments includes advising Silk Road Fund on its very first oil and gas investment (in the Yamal LNG project), Beijing Gas Group on its first investment in the Russian gas sector, CITIC Group on its first overseas oil asset acquisition in Indonesia, China Exim Bank on the financing of a hydro-electric plant in Cambodia, and CNPC on its investment in the Yamal LNG project.

"We were delighted to act again for Silk Road Fund on this transaction, which further fosters Chinese-Russian cooperation in the energy sector," said Danila, who led the team on the transaction with Monica.

"The tireless work between our Russian, Tokyo and Chinese offices on this deal demonstrated the excellent connections between our very own "Silk Road" network of lawyers."

"This familiarity and understanding allows us to quickly provide any client working in these investment corridors with the very latest advice from a well-established team."

On this transaction, Danila and Monica were supported by partner Hilary Lau and associates Calvin Ho and Debra Ellis in Hong Kong, by associates Hao Su, James Zhang and Jie Li in Beijing, and in Tokyo by partner Andy Blacoe and associates William Lapthorn, Richard Taylor and Douglas Heller.

The team was assisted from Moscow by partner Oleg Konnov, senior associates Evgeny Yuriev and Margarita Slavina, and associates Elvira Vanieva, Bogdana Shtoma, Sergey Kolobov, Ilsur Mavlekeev and Martyn Jones.