Shearman & Sterling is representing Cals Refineries Ltd in the US$417 million acquisition of Cenco and Atas oil refinery assets from the Hardt Group.

The Cenco refinery assets are located in Houston, Texas, United States and the ATAS refinery assets are located in Famagusta, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Cals intends to use the assets to construct a crude oil refinery facility in Haldia, West Bengal, India. The purchase price for the assets is US$417 million (US$317 million payable in Global Depository Receipts in Cals which shall be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and US$100 million payable in cash).

Cals is registered in India and was incorporated specifically to own and operate the proposed crude oil refinery facility in Haldia. The estimated total capacity of the facility will be 400,000 barrels per day (20 MMTPA) and, following construction of the facility, Cals will be the third largest oil refining and petrochemicals company in India. Hardt is an investment firm with a strong focus on the energy sector. Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, the firm also has offices in London and New York.

The Shearman & Sterling team of lawyers on the transaction is being led by partner Laurence Levy (London-Mergers & Acquisitions) and counsel Sidharth Bhasin (Hong Kong-Mergers & Acquisitions). It includes associates Sean Skiffington (London-Mergers & Acquisitions) and Tom Lewis (London-Mergers & Acquisitions) and trainee Sara Couling (London-Mergers & Acquisitions).  Tax advice is being provided by partner Bernie Pistillo (New York-Tax) and associate Amy Lewis (New York-Tax), while associate Kelly Karapetyan (New York-Antitrust) is advising on antitrust aspects of the transaction.