Norton Rose Fulbright advises Sonangol on sale of shares in Puma Energy and purchase of strategic assets

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Sonangol on the sale of its shares in Puma Energy to Trafigura and its acquisition of Puma Energy’s strategic assets in Angola.

Puma Energy is a leading global energy business which supplies, stores and distributes petroleum products in 48 countries across six continents. Founded in 1997, Puma Energy has its headquarters in Singapore and Geneva and regional hubs in South Africa, Puerto Rico, Australia and Estonia, and employs over 8,000 people globally.

Sonangol has agreed the sale of its shares in Puma Energy to Trafigura and Sonangol will acquire Puma Energy’s strategic assets in Angola, in exchange for the US$600m sale of its Puma Energy shareholding to Trafigura. For Sonangol, the acquisition includes the Pumangol retail network of service stations, airport terminals and marine terminals, including the state of the art Terminal de Combustíveis da Pumangol em Luanda (TCPL) terminal in Luanda Bay.

The sale of Sonangol’s entire shareholding in Puma Energy and the acquisition of Puma Energy’s assets in Angola represents the achievement of a strategic objective for Sonangol and represents a significant step towards delivering Angola’s Privatization Programme, while acquiring a business with valuable assets complimentary to its core business.

Completion of these transactions are subject to regulatory approval.

The team was led by corporate partner Bayo Odubeko and included partners Madhavi Gosavi, Neil Q. Miller, Michael Alliston, Mark Tricker, Chris Down and Mike Knapper. Further assistance was provided by senior associate Phillippa Hook and associates Louise Finnegan, Will Scott, Adam Worth, Alice Routh and Salvador Mazza.