Addleshaw Goddard has completed deal activity with a combined value of £1 billion in the last month, a record for the legal firm.
Spurred on by North Sea mergers and acquisitions (M&A), it marks the strongest year-end to-date for the company and primes it for a “buoyant” start to the next year.
Cairn Energy’s £334 million sale of its interests in the Catcher and Kraken fields to Waldorf Production was among the “standout” deals.
Edinburgh-headquartered Cairn (LSE: CNE) held a 20% interest in Catcher and 29.5% in Kraken, operated by Harbour Energy and EnQuest respectively.
The energy team at Addleshaw Goddard was the lead adviser on the deal since it was first announced back in March.
Partners at the firm are also predicting “strong demand” for good UKCS assets to continue into 2022.
Norwegian investors in particular have underlined their appetite, with NEO recently announcing the acquisition of JX Nippon’s UKCS assets for £1.2bn.
© Supplied by Aberdeen City CounciTransactions in the green energy sector have also hit a high, with the team acting on the Aberdeen green hydrogen project.
The local authority chose BP as the preferred bidder to help build the £215m facility, aimed at establishing the Granite City as a “world-class” base for hydrogen.
Phase 1 of the project is expected to be up and running from 2024.
David McEwing, co-head of energy and utilities at Addleshaw Goddard, said: “The combined efforts of our energy team have culminated in our strongest year-end to date, with a record value of deal activity confirmed.
“We are seeing more than green shoots in supply chain deals as we come out of the shadow of Covid. Though there is a far stronger pipeline of M&A activity, Covid still has the potential to disrupt the market, so we must act cautiously.
“Demand across the energy spectrum will continue throughout the transition period, as the UK continues to operate at a deficit between production and consumption, meaning that the country will rely on imports from abroad.
“The supply chain will continue to support the industry and, at the same time, there are huge opportunities as the sector pivots to make the energy transition happen.
“Over the next year, we will continue to see more IPOs complete across the market, and M&A activity across green energy transactions will continue to soar, as the need to shift to and scale sustainable energy reaches all industries.”
Earlier this year, Addleshaw Goddard announced that it had grown its headcount in Aberdeen by 40% due to a surge in client demand.