White & Case has reportedly advised Hungarian energy firm MOL on its USD 1.57 billion acquisition of Chevron’s stake in an oilfield in Azerbaijan. Herbert Smith Freehills reportedly advised Chevron on the deal.
MOL reported that the deal includes a 9.57% stake in the BP-operated Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field in the Caspian Sea and a 8.9% stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that transports the crude to the Mediterranean. The Azeri purchase is expected to add about 20,000 barrels per day to MOL’s production, which will rise to 120,000-130,000 barrels per day.
MOL's in-house team was led by Head of Group M&A Legal Biborka Jojart, who described the deal as "the largest inorganic one of MOL Group’s history, being also the largest one in Hungary as well as the CEE region." Jojart worked alongside MOL M&A Legal Advisor David Spiegel.
Editor's Note: After this article was published Herbert Smith Freehills confirmed that it had advised Chevron on the deal. The firm's team was led by London-based Partners Steve Dalton and Laura Hulett and included Singapore-based Associate Irina Akentjeva and Lond-based Associate Becky Wee.