Locke Lord’s Representation of Satellite Petrochemical USA Corp. Recognized by Association for Corporate Growth Houston for Cross Border Transaction of the Year

A Locke Lord deal team led by International Partner Tom Tong has been recognized by The Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Houston at the second annual Deal of the Year Awards in the category of Cross Border Transactions for the Firm’s representation of Satellite Petrochemical USA Corp. in a joint venture, Orbit Gulf Coast NGL Exports, LLC, with Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (ETP). The joint venture and transaction were awarded along with SABIC and ExxonMobil’s joint Gulf Coast growth ventures project. ACG’s Deal of the Year Awards honor the deals and dealmakers who drive middle market growth and their success in generating job growth, capital formation and the advancement of meaningful business relationships in the Houston community.

Locke Lord represented Satellite Petrochemical and its China-based parent in a transaction involving the negotiation of a long-term purchase and sale agreement, as well as certain investment-related agreements, with an affiliate of ETP. Under the agreements, ETP will supply multi-million tons of ethane per year for over a decade to Satellite Petrochemical for eventual consumption by its parent company in China, which is in the process of building China’s first ethylene plant designed to use ethane as feed stock. The joint venture investment, $296 million from Satellite Petrochemical and a slightly larger amount from ETP, is for the construction of a new pipeline for ethane transportation, chiller and storage facility at the terminal to enable the export of ethane. While there have been many parties in China expressing interest for similar deals, Satellite Petrochemical is the first China-based buyer to have completed such a transaction with a foreign ethane supplier.

Tong (Dallas) led the team, which included Eric Larson (Houston) for joint venture matters. They were supported by Chris Verducci (Houston) on litigation provisions, Ann Ryan Robertson (Houston) on arbitration issues, John Arnold (Houston) and Tom Knight (Washington, D.C.) on state and federal pipeline regulatory issues, Jaremi Chilton (San Francisco) on tax issues and Tammi Niven (Houston) on the financial guarantee terms.