BHP Billiton and Petrohawk Energy Corporation (“Petrohawk”) announced late yesterday that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement for BHP Billiton to acquire Petrohawk for $38.75 per share by means of an all-cash tender offer for all of the issued and outstanding shares of Petrohawk, representing a total equity value of approximately $12.1 billion and a total enterprise value of approximately $15.1 billion, including the assumption of net debt.  Morgan Lewis served as co-counsel to BHP Billiton, along with Sullivan & Cromwell.

The Morgan Lewis team on the transaction was led by David Asmus (leader of the Energy Transactions team in the firm’s Business & Finance practice) and partner Michael King (B&F – Energy Transactions).  Other partners and counsel with key roles were: partners Steve Navarro (B&F – Securities), Amy Kelly (Employee Benefits), Stan Lechner (Labor & Employment), Mark Haskell (Energy – FERC/CFTC), Harry Robins (Antitrust – HSR), Steve Mahinka (Antitrust – CFIUS), senior counsel Chris McAuliffe (Energy – Environmental Regulations), partners Tom D’Ambrosio (B&F – Derivatives), Jeannine Bishop (Real Estate), and Dan Hogans (Executive Compensation), as well as of counsel Maxine Woelfling (Environmental Litigation).

Key associates on the team included: Blake Ellis and Rachel Le (B&F – Energy Transactions), Patrick Rehfield and Carly Grey (Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation), Ross Friedman (Labor & Employment), Bryan Clark (Energy), Heather Fuentes and Sean Duffy (Antitrust), Andrew Milano (B&F – Mergers & Acquisitions) and Michael Lee (B&F – Finance), as well as Jason Roberts, Meredith Rettaliata, and Sara McCormick (Real Estate).

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