FIRM BRIEFINGS INTERNATIONAL FIRMS Vinson & Elkins
2012 Firm Overview Active jurisdictions
Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (Republic of), Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan (north), Tanzania, Uganda
Key offices London, Houston, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo
Highlight clients
Statoil, China National Oil & Gas Exploration & Development Corporation, Anadarko, Pioneer Natural Resources, Tullow Oil
Most active disciplines International arbitration, company and commercial, M&A and joint- ventures, private equity and funds, project finance (Energy and IPP)
Key sectors Mining and metals, oil and gas, power, industry and manufacturing
Law capability English, US
Key partners James Atkin, Paul Deemer, Alex Msimang, Kimberley Wood
Vinson & Elkins is especially busy in Nigeria, where the team has clocked up over 40 matters over recent years. Although its oil and gas practice, in Nigeria but also in Angola, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda and other countries, is its trump card the firm has also been active and building its team in infrastructure and mining and metals. They “have a good reputation and are sensible,” says a West African
client, while clients in the Nigerian oil and gas sector praise the firm as a “professional energy firm with a global network and in-depth capa- bilities… they’ve done a lot of transactions in Africa and obviously they are a top oil and gas firm”. “We used the oil and gas and private equity team and both skill sets were very valued,” says a client. Practice head Alex Msimang, François Feuillat and Kevin Atkins re-
ceive praise form clients. “As a team they were excellent support, there when we needed them, able to work all hours especially hard when the deal turned on and off,” says one “Very good on the choreography of completion”.
Matters On the contentious side Mark Beeley, Christopher Walker, François Feuillat, Nicholas Song and Nick Roberts were busy representing spon- sors and project companies in litigation in Europe and before African courts (with local counsel). The activity focused on Nigeria and South Africa.
Kimberley Wood and Kevin Atkins assisted Cairn India Group in a
farm-in deal whereby Cairn and PetroSA signed an acquisition agree- ment for Block I, offshore South Africa. Alex Msimang led a team on a farm-out, assisting Tullow Oil on a farm-out of two thirds of its li- censes in Uganda to Total and CNOOC. The latter was valued at $2.9 billion. The team also acted for Seven Energy on the development of a gas
supply project off-shore Nigeria worth over $200 million and an Asian investor on a $4 billion investment into a global E&P business and an LNG project.
Werksmans Attorneys
2012 Firm Overview Active jurisdictions
Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
Highlight clients
Xstrata South Africa, Total South Africa, Siemens, Toshiba, Glencore, AngloGold Ashanti
Key offices Johannesburg, Cape Town
Most active disciplines Litigation, company and commercial, M&A and joint-ventures, project finance, EPC, environmental, land, tax
Key sectors
Mining and metals, oil and gas, renewable energy and clean technology, rail, roads
Law capability South African. Also French and English qualified lawyers and Lex Africa network firms.
Key partners Greg Nott, David Walker
The key names in Werksmans’ practice are Greg Nott, who heads the firm’s Africa practice, and David Walker, who heads up the energy and infrastructure department. The firm was a co-founder of the Lex Africa network through which is has representation in 29 African countries. The network includes market leading firms in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana, among others, and provides Werks- mans with possibly the widest coverage of the continent of the South African firms.
Matters In one notable contentious case involving projects in the DRC and DRC registered companies, Des Williams and Pierre Burger repre- sented Kamoto Copper Company against Zhongji Development Con- struction Engineering Company in arbitration following the termination of a contract. The case related to the supply of cement for the KOV Mine in the DRC.
ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE | SUB SAHARAN AFRICA 2013 23
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