DLA Piper announced today that it had advised the consortium of Korea Investment Management Co., Ltd., Samsung Securities Co., Ltd. and Daewoo Securities Co., Ltd. (the “Consortium”) in the acquisition of US$308 million worth of US oil assets in the Ankor offshore field (the “Ankor oil assets”) from Ankor E&P Holdings Corporation (“AEPH”) — a wholly owned US subsidiary of Korea National Oil Corporation (“KNOC”). The Ankor oil assets are located in the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, consisting of five producing offshore oil fields and various undeveloped leasehold interests.

The deal was strategically structured so that the Consortium purchased the interest with a US limited partnership set up in the state of Delaware, which subsequently owned a 29% stake in the Ankor oil assets.

The manner in which the funds were raised by the Consortium was unique for a transaction in South Korea. Prior to the acquisition a mutual fund was set up for an initial public offering on the Korea Exchange sold to a mixture of institutional and individual investors. Notably, sophisticated risk management methods such as insurance and hedge agreements were adopted to minimise the risk of oil price fluctuations as well as other possible disasters inherently associated with oil asset transactions.

Partner JC Lee commented “The structure and scope of the Ankor oil assets deal is certainly the first and one of its kind in South Korea. The remarkable performance of our team in handling the transactions demonstrates our strength in providing our clients with strategic and forward thinking legal, business and risk management advice. This is a successful example to showcase DLA Piper’s competitive advantage in cross-region synergies and sharing of best practice within our global network.” 

The DLA Piper team handling the deal was headed by Hong Kong based partner, JC Lee, who was assisted by associates Jada Soyun Lee and Ilsoon Han. The firm’s Houston team supported the transaction, led by partner Michael Bolton, together with associate Steven Torello. The Korean legal advisor to the deal was Kim & Chang with Vinson & Elkins appointed as the US counsel acting on behalf of the vendor.