Feb 05, 2008

Cleary Gottlieb represented ArcelorMittal in its successful bid for a license to construct a steel plant in Egypt from Egypt’s Industrial Development Authority (a division of the Ministry of Trade and Industry). The plant is expected to have a capacity of 1.6 million tons per annum of direct reduced iron and 1.4 million tons per annum of steel billet. Construction is expected to commence in 2009.

The license was awarded in a competitive bidding process held in Cairo on February 5 and involving bidders from Europe, South Asia and the Middle East.

The investment marks the latest transaction in which Cleary Gottlieb advised ArcelorMittal in the Middle East and Africa, following investments in Algeria (steel privatization) in 2001, Liberia (iron ore and infrastructure concession) in 2005, and Senegal (iron ore and infrastructure concession), Saudi Arabia (greenfield joint venture in steel pipes) and Mauritania (iron ore joint venture) in 2007.

ArcelorMittal is the world’s largest and most global steel maker, with an industrial presence in 27 countries.

Oct 10, 2006

Cleary Gottlieb successfully represented the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) in two Fifth Circuit appeals from attempts by judgment creditors of the Congo to satisfy their claims by executing upon the Congo’s right to receive royalty oil from petroleum exploration projects in the Congo in FG Hemisphere Associates v. Republique du Congo, and Af-Cap, Inc. v. Republic of Congo,in FG Hemisphere Associates v. Republique du Congo, 455 F.3d 575 (5th Cir. 2006), and Af-Cap, Inc. v. Republic of Congo, 2006 WL 2424778 (5th Cir. Aug. 23, 2006).

The net result of these decisions is to vacate writs of garnishment purporting to execute upon royalty obligations owed to the Congo by oil development corporations, to reverse a turnover order directing the Congo to sign over such royalty obligations to creditors, and to vacate an order holding the Congo in contempt for its refusal to comply with the turnover order on grounds of sovereign immunity.

In FG Hemisphere, the Court of Appeals held that lower courts must determine whether a foreign state’s property is "in the United States" and "used for a commercial activity in the United States" before it may be subject to attachment or execution under § 1610 of the FSIA every time a writ of garnishment or other form of execution on foreign state property is sought; the fact that the property was previously in the United States does not satisfy the statutory test. The court also held that these "situs snapshot" determinations must be made separately for each piece of property targeted for execution, and that any execution must satisfy all the requirements of state law even where no immunity is found under the FSIA.

In Af-Cap, the Fifth Circuit further held that non-monetary obligations (such as the obligation to deliver royalty oil) are not subject to garnishment under Texas law; that a contractual consent of a foreign sovereign to jurisdiction in New York is insufficient to support a finding of personal jurisdiction under the FSIA in Texas (which would be necessary to support a turnover order); and that the FSIA prohibits monetary contempt sanctions against a foreign state (a point on which the Congo was supported by the U.S. Department of Justice as an amicus curiae).

Jan 11, 2007

Cleary Gottlieb represented Mittal Steel in the review by the new Government of Liberia of the mining development agreement signed in August 2005, which gave Mittal access to about 1 billion metric tons of rich iron ore reserves in Western Liberia.

Following the election of Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to office in November 2005, the new Government of Liberia, while recognizing the validity of the contracts signed by the predecessor transitional government, launched a review process involving all significant investor agreements. Mittal agreed to cooperate with this review process. The parties eventually engaged in long and strenuous renegotiations of certain matters regarding allocation of ownership and control rights over existing infrastructure, tax and customs treatment, guarantee of project execution and project-related environmental obligations. An Amendment to the mineral development agreement was signed in Monrovia on December 28, 2006. The Amendment, which remains subject to ratification by the Liberian Legislature, confirms the parties’ commitment to the project, with Mittal expected to invest more than $1 billion over the life of the project for mine development, related railway and port infrastructure and community development.

May 15, 2007

Cleary Gottlieb won dismissal of an interim relief measures request by Gas Intensive S.p.A. against ENI subsidiary Trans Tunisian Pipeline Company Ltd. before the Milan Court of Appeal on May 15, 2007. Gas Intensive, a consortium of Italian industrial manufacturers, had requested interim relief measures for its exclusion by TTPC from its procedure of allocating natural gas transport capacity on its international gas pipeline. Gas Intensive alleged that the exclusion was an "abuse of a dominant position" by TTPC.

The Court agreed with Cleary Gottlieb that it lacked jurisdiction in rejecting the interim measure request.

May 02, 2007

Cleary Gottlieb advised private equity client Helios Investment Partners in its equity investment in First City Monument Bank, a leading Nigerian Bank. Helios acquired 15% of First City through Helios Investments, L.P., a private equity fund focused on sub-Saharan Africa, which Cleary Gottlieb helped form in 2006. The First City stake, signed in March and closed in April, is the fund?s first completed investment.

First City was the first Nigerian bank established without government or foreign support. The bank, one of the top two merchant banks in Nigeria prior to its conversion to universal banking in 2001, is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Jul 28, 2006

Cleary Gottlieb represented Helios Investment Partners in connection with the formation of its first private equity fund, Helios Investments, L.P. The fund intends primarily to pursue investments in sub-Saharan Africa.