King & Wood Mallesons has advised Chinese oil and gas producer PetroChina Co Ltd on its acquisition of a $1.63 billion stake in the Browse liquefied natural gas project in Australia from BHP Billiton, represented by Ashurst.
Expected to be completed in the first half of 2013, the sale hinges on the remaining joint venture partners -- Woodside Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP, Japan’s Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corp -- choosing not to exercise rights to match the offer from PetroChina, Reuters reported.
The Browse deal will require approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board, as PetroChina is state-owned, but is not expected to run into problems given the firm is taking a non-controlling stake, said Corrs Chambers Westgarth partner Andrew Lumsden to Reuters.
The King & Wood Mallesons team was led by Hong Kong-based partner Joshua Cole, assisted by Perth partners David Perks, Tim Warman and Sally Audeyev.
“The acquisition is a significant strategic investment for PetroChina, and will enable them to participate in another major LNG facility project in Australia,” said Cole in a statement.
The Browse stake marks Petrochina's first major acquisition this year after it set aside $16 billion for overseas investment as part of a plan to have half its production outside of China within eight years, Reuters reported.
China's state-owned energy giants have been bidding aggressively for foreign oil and gas fields as Beijing looks to secure energy supplies to meet rising demand. A KPMG report in August found Chinese firms invested $45.1 billion into Australia in 116 deals between September 2006 and June this year. Ninety-two of those deals were made by 45 Chinese state-owned enterprises.
Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.
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