From Conyers Dill & Pearman

Conyers Dill & Pearman has acted for Compañía Española de Petróleos (CEPSA) and Strategic Resources (Global) (SRG) in connection with their recent acquisition of Coastal Energy Company, an international oil and gas exploration and production company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and AIM.

The purchaser was a newly incorporated Cayman subsidiary of CEPSA in which SRG is an investor, and the acquisition was effected through a statutory merger under Cayman Islands law following which Coastal was the surviving entity and became a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of CEPSA.

All outstanding shares and options in Coastal were acquired for a cash consideration of approximately CAD2.3bn (£1.3bn).

CEPSA is Spain’s fourth-largest industrial group and is engaged in petroleum and natural gas exploration and production activities, refining and the transport and sale of crude oil derivatives. CEPSA is a wholly owned subsidiary of the International Petroleum Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund company owned by the Abu Dhabi government.

Conyers worked alongside Blake Cassels & Graydon, Baker & McKenzie and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on this complex international transaction, which, including extensive legal due diligence, took more than a year to reach completion.

The Conyers team was led by Richard Fear in the Cayman office, with Robert Briant and Patrick Ormond in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Sonia Xavier in Mauritius providing advice on the BVI and Mauritius aspects of the transaction.