One of the world's largest independent oil exploration and production companies is bidding adieu to most of its assets in Canada.

Cenovus Energy Inc. announced on March 29 that it had agreed to buy the bulk of Houston-based ConocoPhillips' oil sands holdings up north in a $13.3 billion deal. The landmark transaction, expected to close in the second quarter of this year, has yielded roles for a pair of Am Law 100 firms and three leading Canadian shops.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison corporate partner Andrew Foley, who opened the firm's Toronto office in 2011 after relocating from New York, is advising Cenovus on the deal, along with Canadian firms Blake, Cassels & Graydon and Bennett Jones. The latter advised Cenovus on the $2.7 billion sale of its oil and gas royalty business to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in mid-2015, while Bennett Jones and Paul Weiss have previously handled note and debt offerings for the company.