Ashurst has advised Lundin Petroleum on a fully committed 7-year senior secured revolving credit facility of US$ 2.5 billion. This senior secured facility is revolving in order to adjust to Lundin Petroleum group financing needs. This facility will provide the necessary financial flexibility to carry out Lundin Petroleum’s development and exploration projects in Norway, including the Edvard Grieg and Brynhild developments. The lender group consists of 25 international banks, combining existing and new lenders to Lundin Petroleum.
The Ashurst team was led by upstream oil and gas financing partner Huw Thomas, and included a London based team of senior associate Nick Ross-McCall and associate Alex Bartho with assistance from structured finance associate William Rhee. The team was also supported by financing Partner Guy Benda, Corporate Partner Diane Senechal, senior associate Pierre Roux and associates Leslie Batazzi and Ariane Alam in Paris.
Local counsel included Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn in Amsterdam, Arntzen de Besche in Oslo and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Advokat in Stockholm. Ashurst coordinated the input from the local counsel and worked closely with Lundin Petroleum’s General Counsel, Jeffrey Fountain, Chief Financial Officer Geoffrey Turbott and Head of Corporate Debt Christophe Nerguararian in Geneva and counsel Delphine Merceron in Paris.
Huw Thomas commented:
“We are very pleased to have advised Lundin Petroleum on this major financing transaction which falls in our sweet spot for multi-jurisdictional reserve based lending transactions. This deal is a benchmark for other RBLs to aspire to in terms of structure and success in the market and we are delighted to have been involved. Lundin Petroleum is a highly valued client of the firm who we always enjoy acting for.”
Jeffrey Fountain commented:
“This US$2.5 billion financing facility is very important to Lundin Petroleum and gives us, along with our operational cash flows, the ability to fund our exciting exploration and development projects, in particular in Norway. At an uncertain and volatile time in the financial markets, we are very pleased to close this financing with a high profile group of 25 international financial institutions. We were also very pleased to work closely again with the Ashurst team, which consistently provides us with the best quality advice and assistance on these complex international transactions.”
Herbert Smith advised the lenders.
