FIRM BRIEFINGS NIGERIA
AELEX is another well-established top tier player in the energy and in- frastructure fields. Throughout 2012, the firm, which is one of the largest in Nigeria, has been knee-deep in power, oil and gas and infra- structure transactions. It has a renowned disputes and arbitration prac- tice and has been busy assisting sector clients on tax matters. Specifically, the firm is praised as “one of the few that really does know the mining space”. The key energy and infrastructure lawyers at AELEX are Theophilus
Emuwa, Lawrence Fubara Anga, Sina Sipasi and Soji Awogbade. Awog- bade in particular wins consistent praise from clients and is often rated in the top handful of energy lawyers in the country, especially for oil and gas work.
Matters AELEX has been advising both Seven Energy and Dragon Oil on pro- posed acquisitions of oil and gas assets and in 2012 it was also repre- senting Mobil Petroleum Nigeria, ADDAX Petroleum and CNOOC on tax disputes. The latter was taking place before the Court of Appeal where the client was trying to overturn a VAT ruling made by a lower court. In infrastructure, a highlight deal had the firm advising Lekki Port
LFTZ Enterprise on the first ever private deep sea port in Nigeria. The deal is a PPP (public-private partnership) project with the Nigerian Ports Authority. The team also acted for FMO on a syndicated financ- ing for a housing development and Sapetro on a divestment from an oil block in Benin.
Aluko & Oyebode
2012 Firm Overview Cross-border matters
Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa
Highlight clients
NNPC, Guarantee Trust Bank, Mobil Producing Nigeria, Brass LNG, JP Morgan
Most active disciplines Arbitration, litigation, company and commercial, M&A and joint- ventures, corporate restructuring, asset finance, banking, capital markets, PPP/PFI, project finance, IP, land, tax
Key sectors
Mining and metals, oil and gas, power, industry and manufacturing, ports, roads, social infrastructure, water, sewage and utilities
Key partners Kofo Dosekun, Babatunde Fagbohunlu, Olubunmi Fayokun, Oghogho Makinde, Gbenga Oyebode
Renowned for financing work and with a top-notch corporate practice, Aluko & Oyebode often tops as the favourite of international firms and clients. “A team approach, large, very solid, very well respected, has worked for a number of international firms and know what needs to be done,” says one source. “We tend to use them when the client wants the most obviously tier one blue-chip firm,” says another. An in- ternational partner says the firm is “really excellent and has very good relations with us for our China clients”. Key areas for the firm in 2012 included disputes, corporate and fi-
nance, intellectual property, land law and tax. Gbenga Oyebode, Kofo Dosekun, Oghogho Makinde and Olubunmi Fayokun all come very highly recommended by clients. “Oyebode is well plugged into the market and good at sensing which way the wind is blowing,” says a client. Makinde is the firm’s oil & gas, energy and infrastructure part- ner. Babatunde Fagbohunlu (SAN) comes highly recommended in lit- igation.
Matters A team advised the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and local Exxon subsidiary Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) on a $1.5 billion reserves development project financing. The firm con- tinues to act for sponsors on the Brass LNG project and was also busy on a refinancing of a gas pipeline and a new financing for a methanol and fertilizer plant. The firm won many lender-side mandates for clients including
Guaranty Trust Bank Nigeria, Standard Bank, JPMorgan, DNB Nor Bank and CA-CIB on oil & gas sector acquisition financings relating to the Shell divestments and a $1.8 billion financing of four-deep water drilling vessels. In each deal, the firm handled Nigerian law issues in- cluding due-diligence, contracting structures, security documents and the negotiation of finance documents.
Austen-Peters & Co
2012 Firm Overview Highlight clients
BNP Paribas, Nordic Nigeria, Mercados
Most active disciplines Company and commercial, corporate restructuring, capital markets, PPP/PFI, project finance (energy), employment
Key sectors Oil and gas, power
Key partners Timi Austen-Peters, Jide Ogundana
Austen-Peters & Co is currently pushing to become a firm recognised for PPP (public-private partnership) and infrastructure expertise and to have a partner listed as a Certified Public-Private Partnership Spe- cialist with the Institute for Public-Private Partnership (IPP). It has al- liances with firms in the US (Edwards Wildman), UK, South Africa and Ghana. Timi Austen-Peters and Jide Ogundana are the key lawyers in this
field. Austen-Peters himself is well renowned for his knowledge on pen- sions and capital markets while Ogundana heads up the firm’s energy and PPP practice.
Matters The firm advised a consortium of companies (Mercados) on the acqui- sition of a hydro plant and other power assets in the Nigerian power privatisation process and worked with BNP Paribas to assist on the due diligence and extension of a senior pre-export crude oil financing to a Nigerian company. The financing totalled $830 million. In 2012 the firm was also busy advising Nordic Nigeria on acquisition and joint- venture negotiations for two oil depots worth $100 million.
ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE | SUB SAHARAN AFRICA 2013 39
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