Allens is pleased to have advised Oil Search Limited on its A$22 billion merger with Santos Limited by way of Papua New Guinean scheme of arrangement. The merger, which was completed last week, creates one of the top 20 largest oil and gas companies on a total market capitalisation basis, with a portfolio of geographically and product diversified long-life and low-cost assets. The merged group will also sit within S&P/ASX 200 on a free float market capitalisation basis.
The Allens cross-practice team was led by Corporate Partners Guy Alexander and Richard Kriedemann, along with Senior Associate Elise Blume, and was supported by lawyers across a range of practice groups in the firm.
Guy Alexander said, 'We have enjoyed working closely with Oil Search's board and senior management team on this significant and complex transaction. It caps off a very strong year for our M&A practice, having also acted on transactions such as Sydney Airport, Spark Infrastructure, Vocus, Ausnet and Boral. Allens has acted on a majority of the top 10 largest public M&A deals announced in Australia in 2021.'
Richard Kriedemann said, 'This is a deal with strong strategic logic for Oil Search and Santos shareholders. It was fantastic to see the Allens PNG and Australian teams seamlessly work together to make sure this complex transaction was successfully implemented.'
