(LegalWeek) -- Mayer Brown and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have won roles on the planned $4.2bn merger of former BP chief executive Tony Hayward's investment vehicle Vallares with Turkish oil company Genel Energy International.
Mayer Brown's London office is advising Genel, the largest oil producer in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, fielding a team led by global energy co-head Robert Hamill, working with partners including Kate Ball-Dodd and Richard Smith (corporate), James Hill (tax) and Mark Compton (financial services).
Mayer Brown worked alongside Turkish law firm Yazici, where senior partner and Genel GC Murat Yazici took the lead role. Freshfields is advising Vallares on the transaction, the first for the company since it was formed this summer by Hayward and financier Nathaniel Rothschild and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The deal will see Vallares issue new shares worth $2.1bn to acquire a 100% stake in Genel, which will retain a 50% stake in the renamed Genel Energy.
MRC