Clifford Chance has advised EVRAZ plc, the London-listed globally integrated steel, mining. and vanadium company, on its disposal of the entire issued share capital of its fully owned subsidiary Joint Stock Company EVRAZ Nakhodka Trade Sea Port to its majority shareholder Lanebrook Limited for a cash consideration of USD 354.4 million. Latham & Watkins advised Lanebrook Limited on the deal.
As part of the transaction, EVRAZ entered into a long-term transhipment agreement with Nakhodka Port — located close to Vladivostok in the Russian Far East — pursuant to which the EVRAZ Group has agreed to supply and Nakhodka Port has agreed to tranship coal and metals for a period of five years.
The Clifford Chance team was led by Moscow-based Corporate Partner Arthur Iliev, assisted by Senior Associate Ekaterina Matveychuk, who advised EVRAZ on the sale and purchase agreement, ancillary documents, and various aspects of Russian corporate and antimonopoly law. Advice in connection with the transhipment agreement and guarantee deeds was provided by Perth-based Corporate Partner Paul Lingard, who specializes in assisting natural resource clients on complex transactions, operational issues, and large-scale development projects. Lingard was assisted by Counsel Jessica Davies and Associate Niall O'Shea. A team led by Equity Capital Markets Partner Simon Thomas in London advised EVRAZ and its independent directors on the related party transaction regime under the UK Listing Rules and EVRAZ's shareholder circular and announcement obligations. Thomas was assisted by ECM Senior Associate Tony Lally, Associate James Koessler, and Trainee Louise Baxter.
"It has been a pleasure once again to work with EVRAZ, a strategically important client for the firm, in connection with this important transaction," said Moscow Corporate Partner Arthur Iliev. "What is particularly pleasing is that we were able to put together a multi-jurisdictional and cross-practice area team, with both an in depth knowledge of the client and specialist sector expertise, to execute a technically difficult transaction within a short time frame."
