Premier Oil has agreed to buy Oilexco North Sea for $505m (£344m), rescuing it from administration and leading to mandates for Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith and Slaughter and May.

Premier Oil has agreed to buy Oilexco North Sea for $505m (£344m), rescuing it from administration and leading to mandates for Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith and Slaughter and May.

Premier Oil called on Slaughters for the deal, as well as for a £171m rights issue to raise cash for the transaction.

Corporate partner Hywel Davies led the team, assisted by corporate partner Kathy Hughes and insolvency partners Philip Snell and Ian Hodgson.

Herbert Smith advised Oilexco administrators Ernst & Young with corporate partner John Geraghty working with restructuring partners Laurence Elliott and Kevin Pullen.

Oilexco North Sea was put into administration in January by its Canadian parent company, which filed for bankruptcy protection the following month (19 Jan). It was one of the first oil companies to fall victim to the credit crunch.

On the sale to Premier Oil A&O banking partner Jonathan Brownson acted for Premier’s lending banks – Lloyds Bank, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Barclays Capital, HSBC and RBC Capital Markets.

Clifford Chance partner Adrian Cartwright advised Barclays Capital, HSBC and RBC Capital Markets as underwriters on the share issue.