International law firm Ashurst is advising OMV on its agreement to establish a joint venture with Malaysia-based major independent oil and gas company, Sapura Energy Berhad.

Under the agreements, OMV Exploration & Production will pay US$540 million for a 50% stake of the issued share capital in a newly-formed company, SEB Upstream Sdn Bhd. This is based on a total enterprise value of up to $1.6 billion which comprises an equity value of up to US$1,250 million and debt of US$350 million.

The parties agreed to an additional consideration of up US$85 million based on certain conditions and both parties have also agreed to refinance the existing intercompany debt of US$350 million.

The Ashurst team was led by energy M&A partners Michael Burns and Julia Derrick, assisted by associates Braeden Donnelly, Grace Rackham, Francesca Witney, Jack Mendelssohn, Demi Pham and Kieran McLaughlin. Teams in Singapore and Perth were led by partners Jon Ornolfsson and Lorenzo Pacitti, assisted by associates Priya Shah and Chris Barry. Advice on HR matters was led by partner Ruth Buchanan, assisted by counsel John Gordon and associates Sarah Bach and Hannah Martin. Environmental, tax, finance and real estate advice was led by Jacqui O'Keeffe, Nick Gardner, Ru-Woei Foong, Jane Fissenden and Jonathan Hoare respectively.

Michael Burns said:

"With oil and gas demand expected to increase by 20% until 2030 in Malaysia, we are delighted to have worked with OMV in order  to capitalise on this growing market and help deliver on its expansion strategy into Asia Pacific."

Andreas Aigner, head of M&A legal at OMV, commented:

"This transaction is transformational for OMV in pursuing our strategy of building out our business in South East Asia and the wider Asia Pacific region.  The cross-border Ashurst team, led by Michael Burns, worked tirelessly to get this deal signed and their combination of M&A market practice knowledge and oil and gas sector expertise allowed for the deal to get done in record time."