Allen & Overy advises Aramco

A cross-practice and cross-border team from Allen & Overy is advising The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (“Aramco”) on its investment in Poland’s refining, wholesale, and jet fuel marketing segments through a number of acquisitions from Polish oil refiner and fuel retailer PKN Orlen following its planned merger with Grupa Lotos.

Aramco has agreed to acquire equity stakes of 30 per cent in a 210,000 barrels per day refinery in Gdansk; 100 per cent in the associated wholesale fuels business; and 50 per cent in a jet fuel marketing joint venture with BP. The investment will see Aramco, the world’s largest integrated energy and chemicals company, significantly expanding its presence in the European downstream sector and further expanding its crude imports into Poland.

Also announced is Aramco’s signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PKN Orlen and SABIC, one of the world’s largest petrochemicals companies, with respect to joint opportunities in Poland and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. Another MoU was signed between Aramco and PKN Orlen which focuses on exploring potential opportunities for R&D.

Allen & Overy Corporate M&A partner Andrew Schoorlemmer said, “I am particularly proud to have been able to assist our long-standing client Aramco on this large and complex transaction. Not only does the deal help progress Aramco’s strategic aim to reach new markets with its products, but it also acts to secure and guarantee Poland’s energy security.”

The A&O team is led by Corporate M&A partner Andrew Schoorlemmer and counsel Oliver Bacon. In Warsaw the team is led by Corporate partner Jaroslaw Iwanicki and senior associate Maciej Skoczynski with support from counsel Kamil Jankielewicz. The Dubai team is led by Energy partner Judith Kim, with support from counsel Nick Jackson. Specialist advice is led by antitrust partners Hugh Hollman in Washington D.C., Marta Sendrowicz in Warsaw and Jürgen Schindler in Brussels; and tax partner Gottfried Breuninger with counsel Dirk Schade in Munich.