International law firm CMS has advised Air Products on the establishment of a joint venture (JV) with ArcelorMittal for the construction of a new modern air separation unit at the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih steel plant in Ukraine. The total project cost is estimated to be circa USD116 million. CMS acted on all aspects of the transaction, including as Ukrainian, English, Dutch and Luxemburg law counsel in connection with various project implementation, construction and land agreements, merger clearance as well as the transaction documents for the joint venture company. 

The firm also advised the JV on securing a long-term loan of up to USD81 million from EBRD to the Ukrainian project company for the design, construction and operation of the on-site air separation unit.

Air Products is a world-leading industrial gases company with a current market capitalisation of USD65 billion. Air Products is also a leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.

The on-site air separation unit will employ state-of-the-art technology to produce industrial gases safely and reliably for ArcelorMittal's Kryvyi Rih steel works and other customers in Ukraine and beyond. By replacing the existing industrial gas production on ArcelorMittal's site, the new facility will reduce the annual energy consumption of the steel plant in line with ArcelorMittal’s environmental targets and ESG strategy.

Vitaliy Radchenko, CMS partner and Head of Energy and Projects, comments: “It was our pleasure to assist Air Products on this breakthrough project in Ukraine. We also appreciate the trust of both JV partners – Air Products and ArcelorMittal - to represent them in connection with the EBRD financing for this project. Sustainable financing is a global trend and it is great to see EBRD setting the ESG standards for financing industrial projects in Ukraine, and for CMS to be involved in this.”

Tetyana Dovgan, CMS Corporate/M&A partner, adds: “We are pleased to see two key global players partnering to implement this bespoke project in Ukraine and are proud to have advised Air Products on all aspects of this high-profile joint venture transaction.  This deal reaffirms our strong transactional capabilities and focus on complex joint venture/M&A transactions.”

The CMS team was led by partners Vitaliy Radchenko (Energy and Projects), Tetyana Dovgan (Corporate/M&A), Natalia Kushniruk (Real Estate) and counsel Kateryna Chechulina (Banking and Finance), under the general supervision of the managing partner Graham Conlon. The core team included Kateryna Korneliuk (Energy and Projects); Louise Çakar, Diana Pysarenko, Denys Hatseniuk, Mariana Saienko and Ihor Pavliukov (Corporate/M&A); Maksym Morozov (Real Estate); Jenny Allan, Shona Sanders, Khrystyna Korpan and Ivan Pshyk (Banking and Finance); and Will Anderson (Litigation & Arbitration).

Olga Belyakova (Competition) led on obtaining the required clearances for the transaction with the support of Mykola Heletiy (Competition). Pieter Duijvenvoorde and Marcellina Rietvelt (Corporate/M&A) provided support on Dutch law matters.

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For further information, please contact:

Darina Gordienko

E: darina.gordienko@cms-cmno.com