Howrey Secures Schlumberger/Smith Clearances by EC and DOJ in Latest Oilfield Services Victory

WASHINGTON, July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this week, a Howrey team secured two victories for its long-time client, Smith International.  First, on July 26, the European Commission announced that it had cleared the proposed $11+ billion combination of Schlumberger and Smith International at the end of its Phase I review, without remedies or conditions. Then, the following day, the U.S. Department of Justice cleared the proposed combination also without remedies or conditions.  

Counsel to Smith International from Howrey were partners Sean Boland, Paul Cuomo and Scott Hataway in Washington DC, Tom McQuail in London and Sylvia Maudhuit in Brussels, assisted by David Shotlander, Christine Tasso, Collette Rawnsley and Hertta Hyrkas.

"Schlumberger/Smith is one of the largest deals in 2010 and is certainly one of the largest transactions in the oilfield equipment and services sector in quite some time," said Howrey in announcing the clearances. "The decision by DOJ and the EC to clear the transaction without remedies is a significant accomplishment for the parties."  One leading energy industry analyst commented that the legal team here deserves "plaudits in achieving this result."

Schlumberger and Smith, both leading providers of products, services and technologies used in the oil and gas exploration industry, had more than $30 billion in revenue in 2009 and have operations in 80 countries around the world.  The companies had previously announced in April that DOJ issued a second request for documents and information, an indication that DOJ was taking a very close look at the matter.

Subject to receipt of approval from Smith stockholders, the parties expect to close the transaction on August 27.

Howrey successfully handled all three major oilfield service deals announced in the last year.  In addition to Schlumberger/Smith, Howrey successfully obtained clearances for Cameron International Corporation in its acquisition of NATCO Group Inc. and Baker Hughes Incorporated in its acquisition of BJ Services Company.  Both deals were reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice and numerous foreign competition agencies.

Founded in 1956, Howrey LLP is a global law firm with over 625 attorneys and more than 35 economic, financial and regulatory consultants. Howrey has offices in Washington DC; Northern Virginia; Houston, Texas; New York, New York; Los Angeles, Irvine, East Palo Alto and San Francisco, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; Chicago, Illinois; London, England; Brussels, Belgium; Paris, France; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Munich, Germany; Madrid, Spain and Taipei, Taiwan. Howrey's affiliate, The CapAnalysis Group, LLC (economic, financial, and litigation consultants) teams with Howrey attorneys as a strategic business resource. A consistent American Lawyer "A-List" and PLC Which Lawyer? "Global 50" firm, Howrey is one of the most frequently used law firms by the world's leading companies. Howrey's Intellectual Property practice was ranked as a top national IP practice and the Top IP Appellate practice by IP Law & Business. The Antitrust practice topped Global Competition Review's "GCR 100" and recently received the prestigious Legal Business award as the Competition Team of the Year.  The firm was also named by The Lawyer as one of the world's "Top 50 Litigation Practices of 2009". As the winner of the Thomas L. Sager Award from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, Howrey is committed to the ideals of diversity and is equally committed to the tenets of pro bono and public service. Howrey's "Advantage of Focus" makes it the clear choice for antitrust, intellectual property and complex business dispute resolution. For more information, visit our Web site at www.howrey.com.

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