HOUSTON, October 31, 2013: Newfield Exploration Company, an independent energy company, has announced the signing of a share purchase agreement to sell all of its equity interests in Newfield Malaysia Holdings to SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad for a total cash consideration of $898 million. The transaction is expected to close in early 2014.
The agreement is subject to the approval of Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) under the applicable Production Sharing Contracts, the purchaser's shareholder approval and customary closing conditions. Woodlands, Texas-based Newfield has announced that it plans to use the proceeds from the sale of its Malaysian assets to pay down existing debt and general corporate purposes.
Morgan Lewis served as Newfield Exploration Company’s external legal adviser on the transaction led by Energy Transactions Practice Leader David Asmus and including Energy Transactions partners Joseph Roger and Mathew Kidwell, and Energy Transactions Associates Rachel Le, David Aaronson, Joclynn Townsend and Nicholas Kendrick. Also assisting on the transaction were Tax Practice partner Barton Bassett, Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice partner Gary Rothstein and Antitrust Practice partner Izzet Sinan.
The Newfield in-house team was led by General Counsel John Marziotti and Senior Securities Counsel Melissa Mong.