Russian oil giant's $1bn issuance hints at capital markets upturn

White & Case and Linklaters have lined up on the first Eurobond offering in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) this year.

White & Case was instructed by long-term oil client TNK-BP on its $1bn (£6.4m) issuance, providing English, US and Russian law advice. The offering was spilt into two $500m (£320m) issues, with the first a tranche of 6.25% notes due in 2015 and the second a tranche of 7.25% notes due in 2020. The proceeds of the offering will go towards funding investment programmes aimed at building up oil and gas production and reserves.

The team from White & Case was led by dual-qualified banking and capital markets partner Carter Brod from the London office, supported by Moscow-based corporate partner Igor Ostapets.

Linklaters came in for the joint lead managers Barclays Capital, Calyon and Royal Bank of Scotland, with US-qualified banking partner Cecil Quillen in London leading the magic circle team.

Brod told Legal Week: "This transaction is significant in that it is the first CIS offering this year, after a very difficult 2009. It is encouraging to see a successful deal like this early in the year, which will hopefully offer some encouragement to other CIS issuers to access the international capital markets."

TNK-BP has used White & Case for a range of capital markets, finance, M&A and arbitration work since 1997. It was kept on as an adviser when BP teamed up with TNK in 2003.

The £11.3bn joint venture saw Linklaters take the lead for BP, while Jones Day took the lead for Russian giant TNK. White & Case advised TNK and its shareholders on the venture with a large team led by Ostapets and corporate Marc Polonsky.