INEOS, the world’s fourth largest petrochemicals group, acquired a 50% stake in Sinopec’s Tianjin Nangang Ethylene Project. JunHe and Slaughter and May advised INEOS, while King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) advised Sinopec.
The acquired project is expected to be put into operation by the end of next year, including an ethylene cracker with an annual output of 1.2 million tons and a complete set of downstream high-end new material units, some will use INEOS’ technology.
The two parties had signed three cooperation projects totaling USD7 billion in July, including INEOS acquired a 50% stake in Sinopec’s subsidiary Shanghai Secco Petrochemical, Sinopec acquired a 50% stake in a subsidiary of INEOS in Ningbo, and the two parties will jointly establish a high-density polyethylene plant with an annual output of 500,000 tons in Tianjin.
JunHe team provided PRC law consulting, with Chen Wei as the leading partner and Cliff Sun as the sponsoring partner. Partners Xu Rongrong, Gong Mingfang, Shen Nan, Lu Juyi and Zhao Jikui provided assistance.
Slaughter and May team provides international law advice. The team includes partner Justin Chan and associate Jonathan Kwok, antitrust partner Natalie Yeung, and senior consultant Peter Brien.
KWM team was led by Beijing-based partners Xu Ping and Jennifer Yao. Beijing partners Liu Cheng and Gao Zhao, and Hong Kong office partner Kanne Leung supported them by advising on anti-monopoly and disclosure of listing rules in PRC and Hong Kong.
