Shearman & Sterling represented IPIC on its purchase of a five-year AUD$1.68 billion (US$1.1 billion) exchangeable bond issued by the Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) through its investment vehicle, the Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC). Upon exchange of the bond, IPIC will acquire IPBC’s entire 17.6% equity stake in Oil Search Limited (Oil Search), which is listed on ASX and PomSox, thus becoming the single largest shareholder in Oil Search.

This strategic investment will ensure IPIC’s participation in an LNG mega-project, the PNG LNG project, operated by ExxonMobil, in which Oil Search has a 34% stake. This LNG project is anticipated to be transformational for the PNG economy, and a major driver of the Asia Pacific energy market of the future.

Shanghai Managing Partner Andrew Ruff (Project Development & Finance) led the Shearman & Sterling team, working with counsel Nick Wang (Hong Kong-Project Development & Finance) and Yan Xiao (Shanghai-Capital Markets).