Benjamin R. Wills

Partner

Benjamin R. Wills co-leads the firm’s global mergers and acquisitions practice. Ben guides multinational public and private companies through their most challenging matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, securities compliance and corporate governance issues. Although he works with clients across all industries, including life sciences, telecommunications, technology, financial services and manufacturing, Ben has a particular focus on energy transactions. As a leader of the firm’s oil and gas practice, Ben has over 20 years’ experience advising midstream and downstream oil and gas companies not only in M&A, but also in negotiating complex, long-term commercial agreements. Ben also helps energy clients formulate and achieve their energy transition goals.

Significant transactional representations include:

Energy M&A

Buckeye Partners in its sale of South Texas Gateway Terminal, which is jointly owned with affiliates of Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 and is the second largest crude export facility in North America and operates out of a deep-water marine terminal in Ingleside, Texas, to Gibson Energy Inc. for $1.1 billion
HollyFrontier Corporation in its $1.8 billion acquisition on Sinclair Oil
Buckeye Partners in the $73.5 million sale of a heating oil terminal located in the Bronx, New York, to affiliates of Hartree Partners
Buckeye Partners in its acquisition of Magellan’s independent terminals network comprised of 26 refined petroleum products terminals with approximately 6 million barrels of storage located primarily in the southeastern U.S. for $435 million
Buckeye Partners in its $250 million acquisition of marine terminals in New Haven, CT, Wilmington, DE, and Marrero, LA from Magellan Midstream
HollyFrontier in its $350 million acquisition of the Puget Sound refinery from Shell
Buckeye Partners in its $1.7 billion acquisition and development of condensate splitters and a high-volume marine crude terminal from Trafigura, including the negotiation of numerous long-term tolling, storage, throughput and dock services agreements
Buckeye Partners in the in the formation of a joint venture with Phillips 66 Partners and Marathon to develop the $300 million deep-water, open access South Texas Gateway marine terminal in Ingleside, Texas
HollyFrontier in its $1.25 billion IDR elimination transaction with Holly Energy Partners, including the acquisition of common units of Holly Energy Partners
HollyFrontier in its $845 million acquisition of Suncor Energy's Petro-Canada lubricants business

General M&A

Fagron in its $34 million acquisition of Letco Medical, a supplier of pharmaceutical raw materials, supplies and equipment for compounding
Trecora Resources, a provider of specialty hydrocarbons and specialty waxes, in its $247 million sale to an affiliate of Balmoral Funds, LLC
A subsidiary of KIRKBI A/S in its acquisition of FWD Media, Inc. d/b/a/ BrainPOP, a provider of an online educational platform that can be found in over two thirds of U.S. school districts as well as schools internationally
Tucows in the sale of Ting Mobile to DISH Network Corporation and the entry into complex Mobile Services Enabler Agreements
Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation in the $240 million sale of its global Extremity Orthopedics business to Smith+Nephew
Pennsylvania Trust Company in its sale to Fiduciary Trust International, a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton
HollyFrontier in its $655 million acquisition of Sonneborn, a specialty producer of white oils, petrolatums, and waxes
Pearson plc in the multi-billion dollar formation of the Penguin Random House joint venture, resulting in the largest English language publisher in the world
CornellCookson, a manufacturer of custom closure solutions, in its $180 million sale to Clopay Buildings Products, a subsidiary of Griffon Corporation