A cross-border team of Dechert lawyers is advising Russia’s Mechel OAO (NYSE:MTL; “Mechel”) on its planned disposal of several ferroalloy assets to Turkey’s Yildirim Group. According to the agreement, which was announced today, Yildirim Group will acquire Mechel’s Voskhod Mining Plant (in Khromtau, Kazakhstan) and Tikhvin Ferroalloy Plant (in Tikhvin, Leningrad Region, Russia) for a total of U.S.$425 million. Yildrim Group was the winning bidder in a tender process to acquire the assets. The deal is subject to receipt by the parties of certain governmental approvals in Russia and Kazakhstan, including the waiver of the Kazakhstan state pre-emptive right, on which Dechert is also currently advising.

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To reinforce the business cooperation and friendly exchanges with its Russian clients Deheng Law Group has opened a new office in Moscow. Legal Assistant Luan Chaozhou was appointed as chief representative of the Office. The new office will be under the supervision of the International Practice.

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Global specialist law firm Dechert LLP announced today that it is expanding its corporate and real estate expertise in Russia with the arrival of partner Dr. Taras Oksyuk, who will lead the firm’s Russian real estate and construction practices in Moscow. Oksyuk was most recently a partner at a major transatlantic international law firm, where he headed the Russian real estate and construction practices.

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Morgan Lewis announced today that a group of eight lawyers from the international law firm of Gide Loyrette Nouell will join its Business and Finance Practice, resident in Moscow. The group is led by partners Grigory Marinichev—the former head of the Banking and Finance and Restructuring Practices at Gide—and Konstantin Kochetkov, a leading project finance lawyer. They will be joined by six associates. More >>

Rosneft and members of Itera Oil and Gas Company LLC, announced today Rosneft’s acquisition of the remaining 49% of Itera Oil and Gas Company LLC from Itera Holdings Limited for $2.9 billion, increasing Rosneft’s share in Itera Oil and Gas Company LLC to 100%.

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Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP advised Statoil, the Norwegian state oil and gas company, in concluding a Heads of Agreement with Russia’s Rosneft Oil Company to explore for shale oil in Russia’s Samara region.

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Allen & Overy advised the Russian state-owned banks, Sberbank of Russia and VTB Capital plc (the investment banking division of JSC VTB Bank), as arrangers and lenders under a USD1.7bn public-to-private acquisition financing facility and related refinancing facilities totalling USD1.75bn on the forthcoming public offer for the ordinary shares of Eurasian Natural Resources Company plc (LSE: ENRC) by Eurasian Resources Group B.V., which was announced to the London Stock Exchange on 24 June 2013.

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Baker & McKenzie advised Aer Rianta International cpt (ARI), an Irish state-owned travel retail company, on the sale of its 33.3% shareholding in Aerofirst, the Moscow-based airport retail operation, to Arial, ARI’s fellow shareholder in Aerofirst, which owns the remaining 66.6% stake.

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Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP advised long-standing client ExxonMobil as it finalized agreements with Rosneft to establish a joint Arctic Research Center (ARC) in Russia as well as a technology-sharing agreement supporting the two companies’ joint ventures worldwide.

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Squire Sanders has boosted its market leading private equity practice in Russia with the appointment of partner Anton Rogoza, who joins the firm’s Corporate and Corporate Finance group in Moscow from Goltsblat BLP.

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