Akin Gump Completes First Full London Stock Exchange Listing
for Lukoil, Russia’s Largest Oil Company
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(London, United Kingdom) – Both Akin Gump and OAO Lukoil made history last week when the law firm advised Russia’s largest oil company on its listing of shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). On August 6, Lukoil became the first Russian company to list shares on the London Exchange.
Lukoil, with a market capitalization of $13 billion, listed its entire ordinary share capital and outstanding depositary receipts on the Exchange. The listing will complement Lukoil’s existing depositary receipt program in London and its further issue of depositary receipts. Akin Gump represented Lukoil in connection with the listing of the shares.
“As the first full listing for a Russian company on the London Exchange, the transaction required the resolution of numerous cross-border legal issues that no other Russian issuer had faced previously,” noted Akin Gump partner Natalia Baratiants, who led the firm’s team from Moscow, along with Houston, Texas-based partner Rich Wilkie. Robert Aulsebrook in London coordinated the firm’s English law advice. Morgan Stanley & Co. International acted as Lukoil’s sponsor for the listing. Linklaters advised Morgan Stanley.
Akin Gump previously advised Lukoil in connection with one of the largest global offerings of convertible bonds by a Russian company, with its $5 billion LUKARCO joint venture with Atlantic Richfield Company (now a subsidiary of BP plc), and in the historic formation of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium to build a pipeline from Tengiz, Kazakhstan, to the Black Sea.
About Lukoil
Founded in 1991, LUKOIL is the largest publicly traded oil company in the world in terms of proven crude oil reserves and is Russia’s largest producer of crude oil. Its operations range from oil and gas exploration and production to the refining and sale of oil products. The company operates seven refineries and more than 3,500 service stations, producing nearly 80 million tons of crude oil annually.
About Akin Gump
Founded in 1945, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P., a leading international law firm, numbers 1,000 lawyers with offices in Austin, Brussels, Dallas, Denver, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Riyadh (affiliate), San Antonio and Washington. The firm has a diversified practice and represents regional, national and international clients in a wide range of areas, including antitrust; banking and financial institutions; capital markets; communications; corporate and securities; employee benefits; energy, land use and environment; entertainment; estate planning, wealth transfer and probate; financial restructuring; government contracts; health; insurance; intellectual property; international; investment management; labor and employment; litigation; mergers and acquisitions; privatization; project development and finance; public law and policy; real estate and finance; taxation; and technology.
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