FIRM BRIEFINGS INTERNATIONAL FIRMS
Matters On the disputes side, Peter Cassidy and Samantha Roberts were repre- senting Meridian Port Holdings in litigation in the Supreme Court of Ghana in a multi-party dispute related to a concession agreement for a port terminal facility at Tema Port, while Cassidy also acted for Cameron International in a dispute with a subcontractor for the USAN oil and gas development offshore Nigeria. Roberts led a team to advise Quantum Global Capital on a conces-
sion to finance, design, construct and operate a new port in Cabinda, Angola, and International Container Terminal Services on sub-conces- sion agreement for the development and operation of a container ter- minal deep water port at Lekki. The project, expected to complete in 2016, involves a £225 million investment. The firm was also kept busy by Frontier Resource Group (FRG) on
corporate finance matters and won a range of projects mandates in East and Central Africa.
Shearman & Sterling
2012 Firm Overview Active jurisdictions
Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (Republic of), Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia
Highlight clients
AES Sonel, Sasol, African Barrick Gold, Sundance Resources, Vale, Sumitomo
Key offices Paris, London
Most active disciplines International arbitration, equity capital markets, corporate and commercial, M&A and joint-ventures, banking, debt capital markets, project finance (energy, infrastructure, IPP), EPC
Key sectors
Mining and metals, oil and gas, power, renewable energy and clean technology, ports
Law capability English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, US
Key partners Christophe Asselineau, Yas Banifatemi, , Emmanuel Gaillard, Fernando Mantilla-Serrano, Tim Pick, Richard Price
Shearman & Sterling has in relative terms stormed onto the scene, over time marrying impressive project finance capabilities in London and the US, under partners such as Tim Pick, with strong Francophone cre- dentials under Christophe Asselineau, who is especially recommended in mining and metals, in Paris. The firm’s contentious practice in this field is regularly considered head and shoulders above the rest. “We are all raving about their service, we are blown away, they never
ever missed a deadline,”, says a client, recommending Pick and Por- tuguese speaking Jean Louis Neves Mendelli: “we liked their approach and they expressed all the issues to us very well, we couldn’t have asked for better advisors”. Another agrees: “I’ve never come across advisors who gave better advice on EPC and on PPA. I think we now have a re- ally good concession agreement,” The firm has done especially well in Mozambique where it has taken
a central role on some of the headline projects while also managing some highlight projects in West Africa. The firm is also working with the In- ternational Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, assisting the Office of the Prosecutor, and with the Tribunal of Arusha in Tanzania. The firm oper- ates through informal relations with local counsel and has of late been working alongside CGA in Mozambique on numerous matters.
Matters Fernando Mantilla-Serrano led a Paris-London team in a successful
representation of ABB as a claimant in an ICC arbitration in Frankfurt against an Sub-Saharan African state power entity following termina- tion of a contract. Asselineau headed another Paris-London team for Sundance Re-
sources on the development of the Mbalam/Nabeda iron ore mine, in- cluding the construction of 500km of rail line and a deep sea port terminal, on the Congo-Cameroon border. The project is valued at $4.5 billion. Richard Price, Pick and Ben Shorten were busy working with Sasol on a $1 billion bond offering and Vale and ACWA Power on the development of the 300 MW coal-fired Moatize IPP in Mozam- bique. The firm also acted on financing for clients including Sasol and Elec-
tricidade de Moçambique, on a project financing of a gas to power proj- ect, and lenders including Société Générale on projects in South Africa and Nigeria. Asselineau has a very active practice advising on mining sector matters and in 2012 was assisting African Barrick Gold and Teranga Gold Corporation, among others.
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
2012 Firm Overview Active jurisdictions
Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan (north), South Sudan
Key offices London, New York, Paris, Washington DC, Hong Kong
Highlight clients Vitol, Government of South Sudan, Arrow Capital
Most active disciplines
International arbitration, M&A and joint-ventures, private equity and funds
Key sectors Oil and gas
Law capability English, French, US,
Key partners Douglas Nordlinger
Skadden Arps’ key strengths are in corporate and M&A matters, under Douglas Nordlinger, and the firm is also recognised for its contentious and dispute resolution practice. The firm previously advised Wal-Mart on its acquisition of Mass-
mart in 2011 and totalled $3 billion of African M&A deals in 2011, while in 2012 it clinched the lead role advising Vitol Group and Helios Partners on the acquisition of a majority stake in most of Shell’s down- stream businesses. The firm’s work for the government of South Sudan has been of critical importance and well exemplifies the calibre of mat- ters the team can handle.
Matters One of Skadden’s headline roles was advising the Government of South Sudan on a range of contentious and non-contentious matters. Bruce Macaulay and David Herlihy were advising the state in ICSID arbitra- tion in defence against a claim over oil rights by North Sudan, resulting from the 2011 independence. Nordlinger meanwhile was working with the state in multi-billion dollar negotiations over oil rights between the two countries and between South Sudan and each oil company with rights to explore, produce or market oil in the country. Another headline matter was for Vitol Group and Helios Partners.
Nordlinger and Shaun Lascelles advised the clients in their acquisition of the majority of Shell’s stake in most of its downstream business across 16 countries for an estimated $1 billion.
ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE | SUB SAHARAN AFRICA 2013 21
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