In Brief – April 2014
K&L Gates LLP has advised Dubai-based developer Emaar Properties PJSC on the acquisition of an adult dinosaur fossil skeleton, which was put on display at The Dubai Mall last month. Dating from the Jurassic Period, the remains of this Diplodocus longus were discovered in a sleeping position in the Dana Quarry in Wyoming, USA, in 2008. The specimen was previously displayed at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Texas before being shipped to the United Arab Emirates. The K&L Gates team was led by Dubai partner Omar Momany and Chicago partners Richard Sevcik and Christopher Bloom with assistance from partner Jerome Zaucha and of counsel Daniel Gerkin — both Washington, D.C. — as well as associates Matthew Anderson (Chicago) and Holly Chapin (Washington, D.C.).
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Shearman & Sterling have been drafted in as Chinese social media company Sina Weibo prepares for a USD500m IPO in the US. The Twitter-like micro-blogging service provider recently filed an application with the Securities & Exchange Commission for its global offering of American depositary shares in the US. Beijing-based TransAsia Lawyers has been engaged as the issuer’s PRC counsel, with TMT partners Philip Qu and Justina Zhang as the lead partners. Shearman & Sterling is acting for the underwriters Goldman Sachs (Asia) and Credit Suisse Securities (USA), alongside PRC counsel Haiwen & Partners. Shearman’s team is headed by Palo Alto corporate lawyer Alan Seem, and Haiwen Beijing corporate partner Liu Su is leading its team.
Clifford Chance, Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom and Australian firm Gilbert + Tobin have taken lead roles in Shell’s $2.6bn deal to offload its Australia downstream business to Vitol. Clifford Chance Royal Dutch Shell on the binding agreement to sell its Australia downstream businesses to Vitol, including Shell’s Geelong Refinery, a 870-site retail business and its bulk fuels, bitumen, chemicals as well as part of its lubricants business in Australia. The magic circle firm’s team was led by London corporate partner Kathy Honeywood, Singapore managing partner Geraint Hughes and Perth corporate partner Tracey Renshaw. The firm’s team worked alongside Shell’s in-house legal team, led by Malaysia-based in-house counsel Damis Shaharudin.
