Akin Gump Advises Bridas on the Formation of an Integrated Energy Company with BP

(London) – Akin Gump is advising long-standing client Bridas Corporation on the formation of an integrated energy company through the combination of Bridas and BP’s interests in oil and gas producer Pan American Energy (PAE) and Bridas’ interest in refiner and marketer Axion Energy.

The new company, Pan American Energy Group (PAEG), will be the largest privately owned integrated energy company operating in Argentina. PAEG will be owned equally by BP and Bridas.

Bridas is an independent oil and gas holding company. Since March 2010, it has been owned equally by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Bridas Energy Holdings.

PAE is Argentina’s second-largest producer of oil and gas and is responsible for approximately 18 percent of the country’s total oil and gas production.

Axion owns and operates the Campana refinery north of Buenos Aires; has over 750 retail sites in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay; and has material lubricant and aviation fuels businesses.

The transaction is subject to regulatory filing or approval in several jurisdictions. Completion of the transaction is anticipated in early 2018.

The Akin Gump team advising Bridas is led by London cross-border transactions partners Daniel Walsh and David Sewell, counsel Jonathan Pico and associate Alex Leitch, with support from corporate partners Jim Langdon (Washington, D.C.) and Seth Molay (Dallas) and London antitrust partner Davina Garrod and associate Scott Pettifor.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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