Deal sees Shell call in A&O while SNR Denton acts for Total

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has clinched the corporate mandate on a deal which is set to see £350m worth of UK petrol stations change hands.

The law firm is advising Rontec Investment on the purchase of 810 petrol stations from Total – 254 of which are set to be sold on directly on to Shell.

BLP is advising on both M&A and competition issues with a team led by projects group head Adam Dann, corporate head John Bennett and corporate finance partner Murdoch Currie. Competition and real estate advice was led by partners Andrew Hockley and Barry Gross respectively.

Rontec is a joint venture comprising Gerald Ronson's Snax 24 petrol forecourt business, South African investment bank Investec and private equity group Grovepoint.

Total has instructed SNR Denton on the sale, with the firm floating a team led by corporate head Richard Macklin alongside corporate partner Candace Chapman, environmental partners Stephen Shergold and Sam Boileau and TMT partner Nick Graham.

Meanwhile, Allen & Overy is advising Shell on the second part of the deal, which on its own is worth around $400m (£240m). The work is being led out of London by City partner Jeremy Parr, with the firm's team also including antitrust partner Simon Pritchard and real estate head Adam Cleal.

For Shell, the purchase of the stations, which are mainly based in the Midlands and southeast of England, will take the energy giant's total number of UK sites to 1,150, while Snax 24 will own 556 stations.

SNR Denton is a longstanding adviser to Total, having worked with the company for around five 
years. A&O, meanwhile, was recently appointed alongside Clifford Chance to share the sought-after global M&A work for Shell.