Herbert Smith Freehills advises Beijing Gas on completion of energy investment with Rosneft and US$500 million bond issue

Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Beijing Gas Group on the successful completion of its first major investment in the Russian energy market through agreements with Russian state-owned company Rosneft. The transaction has been completed alongside other work for the company - in May this year, a team led by Beijing partner Zhong Wang and Hong Kong partner William Ku assisted Beijing Gas Group on a successful US$500 million five-year bond issue, the proceeds of which have been used to fund the acquisition.

In November 2016, Beijing Gas Group entered into an agreement on cooperation in the energy sector and signed a suite of transaction agreements for the acquisition of 20% of Verkhnechonskneftegaz from Rosneft.  Verkhnechonskneftegaz is exploring and developing the Verkhnechonskoe oil and gas condensate field, one of the largest in Eastern Siberia. The transactions were signed in November 2016 during a meeting between the presidents of Russia and China in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Herbert Smith Freehills provided full legal assistance to Beijing Gas Group for this milestone deal, including the coordination of intense and virtually non-stop negotiations which took place both in Moscow and Beijing, and all aspects of completion work.

The firm's team was led by Beijing partner Monica Sun, supported by partners Danila Logofet in Hong Kong, Oleg Konnov in Moscow, Zhong Wang in Beijing and William Ku in Hong Kong, as well as of counsel Justin Vaughan and Evgeny Yuriev in Moscow.

"This cooperation agreement with one of the Russian oil majors is a significant step forward for Beijing Gas," said Monica Sun. "Our team provided the very best quality advice under extremely challenging and short timeframes and I would like to thank them all for their diligent work and invaluable input."

"The tireless work between our Russian and Chinese offices on this deal demonstrated the excellent connections across our network, allowing us to provide our client with the best advice," said Oleg Konnov.

The partners were assisted by Hao Su as lead associate, associate Elvira Vanieva, trainees Daria Senilova and Yulia Turkina, and paralegal Qiujie Tan. Senior associate Isaac Chen and associate Marcus Wong assisted on the bond offering.

The firm's Asia competition team, led by partner Mark Jephcott, also provided support on competition aspects of the agreements. Sanctions advice was provided by London partner Susannah Cogman, New York of counsel Jonathan Cross and Moscow senior associate Sergei Eremin.

史密夫斐尔律师事务所就北京燃气与俄罗斯国家石油公司能源投资项目及五亿美元发债项目提供法律服务

北京市燃气集团（“北燃集团”）通过与俄罗斯国家石油公司（“俄油”）签订协议，顺利完成了其在俄罗斯能源市场上的首个重大投资项目。全球知名律所史密夫斐尔律师事务所为北燃集团提供了该项目的相关法律服务。

目前包括收购交易在内的各项工作均已完成——今年5月，史密夫斐尔北京代表处合伙人王重律师和香港办公室合伙人古伟恒律师带队协助北燃集团成功发行了五亿美元五年期债券，所募集资金已用于收购交易。

2016年11月，北燃集团与俄油订立了能源相关合作框架协议，并就收购Verkhnechonskneftegaz公司20%股权事宜签署了一系列交易协议。Verkhnechonskneftegaz公司正在勘探和开发东西伯利亚最大的凝析油气田之一——Verkhnechonskoe油气田。2016年11月，双方在中俄两国总理于俄罗斯圣彼得堡会晤期间签署了相关交易文件。

史密夫斐尔律师事务所为北燃集团此次里程碑式的交易提供了全方位的法律服务，包括负责莫斯科和北京两地马不停蹄展开的紧张谈判的协调工作以及各项交割工作。

本次服务团队由北京代表处合伙人孙晔律师牵头，香港办公室合伙人Danila Logofet律师、莫斯科办公室合伙人Oleg Konnov律师、北京办公室合伙人王重律师、香港办公室合伙人古伟恒律师以及莫斯科办公室顾问Justin Vaughan律师和Evgeny Yuriev律师提供协助。

“与俄罗斯大型石油企业签署的这份合作协议是北京燃气迈出的重要一步，”孙晔律师表示，“我们的团队在极为紧张的时间内提供了最高水平的法律服务，我要感谢他们所有人的辛勤工作与无私付出。”

Oleg Konnov律师表示：“本所俄罗斯和中国各办公室为这项交易做出的不懈努力，体现了我们整个办公网络内部出色的合作纽带关系，正因如此，我们才能够为客户提供最好的服务。”

为合伙人提供协助的其他团队成员包括主办律师苏浩、律师Elvira Vanieva、见习律师Daria Senilova与Yulia Turkina以及律师助理谭秋婕。高级律师陈敏及律师黄国樑就发债项目提供了协助。

此外，史密夫斐尔合伙人Mark Jephcott带领的亚洲竞争业务团队就此次交易协议涉及的竞争问题提供了相关支持。

制裁方面的法律意见由史密夫斐尔伦敦办公室合伙人Susannah Cogman、纽约办公室顾问Jonathan Cross以及莫斯科办公室高级律师Sergei Eremin提供。