Shearman & Sterling advised Ardagh Group in connection with its agreement to combine its Food & Specialty Metal Packaging business with Exal Corporation, a producer of aluminum containers, to create a global packaging company with pro forma revenues and adjusted EBITDA in the 12 months ended March 31, 2019 of $2.7 billion and $469 million, respectively.

Shearman & Sterling is representing Citibank, N.A. as administrative agent, collateral agent, and revolving lender on a $1.75 billion DIP financing for Weatherford International plc (Ireland), Weatherford International, LLC (Delaware) and Weatherford International Ltd. (Bermuda) (together, “Weatherford”), which jointly filed chapter 11 bankruptcy cases on July 1, 2019.

Shearman & Sterling advised LyondellBasell on its $3 billion "modified Dutch Auction" tender offer. As part of the transaction, the company acquired more than 35 million of its ordinary shares at a price of $88.00 per share. These shares represent approximately 9.5 percent of the shares outstanding as of July 8, 2019.

A group of Texas voters, candidates and minor political parties filed suit today in federal court in Austin, alleging that the Texas Election Code violates their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by imposing discriminatory and severely burdensome requirements on independent candidates and minor political parties that seek access to Texas’s general election ballot.

Shearman & Sterling represented BofA Securities, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, as international placement agents, in connection with a Rule 144A/Regulation S initial public offering of shares by Cencosud Shopping S.A, an operator of shopping centers in Chile, Colombia and Peru and itself a subsidiary of Cencosud S.A., a major supermarket retailer based in Santiago, Chile with operations across Latin America.

Shearman & Sterling advised China Investment Securities International Brokerage Limited, Dongxing Securities (Hong Kong) Company Limited, China Everbright Securities (HK) Limited, Future Land Resources Securities Limited, Wilson Securities Limited, CM Securities (Hongkong) Company Limited and Morton Securities Limited as initial purchasers in connection with Skyfame Realty (Holdings) Limited’s offering of $105 million aggregate principal amount of 13% senior notes due 2022.

Shearman & Sterling advised subsidiaries of Joyvio Group on financings to support its $880 million tender offer for all of the shares of Australis Seafoods S.A., a leading Chilean salmon producer. The transaction is one of the largest acquisitions in Chile’s aquaculture industry and provides Joyvio with a major presence in the South American seafood market.

Shearman & Sterling represented the underwriters, led by Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, Barclays Bank PLC and BNP Paribas, in connection with Omnicom Finance Holdings plc’s €1 billion offering of senior notes.

Shearman & Sterling advised the initial purchasers―Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Crédit Industriel et Commercial―in connection with Travelodge’s £440 million offering of its senior secured floating rate notes due 2025 issued by TVL Finance (the “Issuer”), an affiliate of Travelodge Hotels. The proceeds of the offering were used to redeem the Issuer’s existing senior secured floating rate notes and its existing senior secured fixed rate notes.

Shearman & Sterling advised the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on a new strategic partnership with OCI N.V. (OCI). ADNOC will combine its fertilizer business, ADNOC Fertilizers, into OCI’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) nitrogen fertilizer platform to form a new joint venture.