Allens advises Santos

Allens has advised Santos Ltd (Santos) on its agreement to acquire ConocoPhillips’ interests in northern Australia for US$1.39 billion, together with a US$75 million contingent payment linked to FID on Barossa. As part of the deal (which remains subject to satisfaction of conditions precedent), Santos has entered into a letter of intent to sell down a 25% interest in Bayu-Undan and the Darwin LNG project to SK E&S, its partner in the Barossa project. Santos is also in discussions with the existing Darwin LNG joint venture partners for the possible sale of equity in Barossa.

The transaction, once completed, will deliver Santos operatorship and control of the Darwin LNG facility (and associated mid-stream assets), the Bayu-Undan project and the Barossa project. The transaction will also create a greater level of ownership alignment between the Barossa project and the Darwin LNG facility.

These assets are well known to Santos, which was a founding partner with ConocoPhillips in the Darwin LNG project.

‘We are delighted to be partnering with the Santos team on this landmark transaction,’ said Partner Andrew Pascoe, who led the deal alongside Partners Tracey Greenaway and Igor Bogdanich.

‘The transaction has been complex and multi-faceted, involving numerous moving parts. We have had to draw upon the full breadth of our expertise and geographical reach, and to coordinate various teams of our experts,’ he said.

Commenting on the deal, Ms Greenaway said, ‘Santos is in an exciting place in terms of the implementation of its growth strategy. It is a great privilege for us to be involved in a transformational project such as this.’

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