"He is very experienced, knowledgeable, commercially shrewd …and effective." "He provides excellent advice and guidance on industry and corporate transactions."

Chambers UK

Overview

Clients turn to Robert Hamill (he/him) for his counsel on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. He has particular experience acting for listed companies and their boards pursuing "buy and build" strategies across various industry sectors including mining, energy, industrials, and TMT.

He has served clients including Sumitomo Mines & Metals, Cornish Lithium, and BP.

Spoken Languages

  • English

Experience

Mining

Advised:

  • Tungsten West plc on its IPO on AIM including a £39 million equity fundraise and £36 million debt financing from Orion.
  • Toro Gold, the privately held gold producer with its main asset in Senegal, on the sale of its entire share capital to Resolute Mining for c.US$300 million.
  • Sumitomo Mines & Metals (in consortium with Sumitomo Corporation) on the acquisition of a 30% stake in the Quebrada Blanco phase 2 Copper development in Chile for US$1.2 billion.
  • Toro Gold on a $40 million investment by an Africa focused private equity fund.
  • Wolf Minerals Limited in connection with its £99 million fundraising to enable the development of its tungsten and tin project in Devon, UK.
  • African Eagle Resources plc on the disposal of certain of its Zambian copper assets to Elephant Copper Ltd and the subsequent disposal of its Dutwa nickel project in Tanzania to Cienega Limited.
  • African Eagle Resources plc on a placing and open offer to fund its bank feasibility study for its Dutwa nickel project in Tanzania.
  • On the listing in London of Wolf Minerals Limited, the developer of a tungsten and tin project in Devon, UK.
  • Lubel Coal (Ukraine) on its pre-IPO funding and proposed listing in London.  

Energy

Advised:

  • Vaalco Energy, Inc. on its $307 million stock for stock merger with Transglobe Energy Corporation.
  • Velocys plc on various acquisitions and fundraisings to support the ongoing development of its Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) projects in Bayou, Mississippi and Immingham, UK.
  • Eland Oil & Gas plc on its recommended all cash acquisition by Seplat Petroleum for £382 million to be effected by means of a Scheme of Arrangement under Companies Act 2006.
  • Eland Oil & Gas plc on its c.$40 million fundraises by way of accelerated book builds to fund further drilling operations on its OML40 licence in the Niger Delta.
  • North Sea oil & gas operator ATP Oil & Gas (UK) Limited on its $1.2 billion restructuring by way of a UK Insolvency Act creditors voluntary arrangement and subsequent $133 million sale (authorised by the United States Bankruptcy Court (Texas Division)) to Alpha Petroleum (UK) Holdings Limited.
  • Axpo Trading AG on its rights and obligations under agreements establishing the TAP consortium in relation to Shah Deniz II including gas sales, gas transmission and consortium shareholder agreements.
  • A large Chinese engineering contractor on a $100 million investment into a pan-African upstream oil & gas business.
  • Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities plc on the merger of Ecofin Energy Resources plc with Amadeus Energy Limited to create a leading ASX-listed MidCap oil and gas company with assets in Texas and Montana.
  • Canaccord Genuity on the IPO and £118 million fund raise for Eland Oil & Gas plc to enable it to acquire OML40 in the Niger Delta from Shell, Total and ENI (AIM’s largest oil & gas IPO since 2007).
  • Genel Energy on its $4.2 billion merger with Vallares plc to create a FTSE 250 upstream oil & gas company operating in Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
  • On the formation and funding of Ecofin Energy Resources plc and its acquisition programme of Shale oil and gas assets in the Barnett Shale, Eagle Ford Shale and Montana.
  • On the acquisition and subsequent listing in London of Fulcrum Group, the UK based gas connections business, from National Grid.
  • Kappa Energy, Colombia's largest independent upstream oil & gas company, in relation to its sale to TSX listed Pacific Rubiales Corp for US$200 million.
  • Corona Energy on the acquisition of Fortum's UK retail gas businesses and subsequent sale to Macquarie Bank.
  • Kaldair on the purchase of BP's trans-Atlantic flare-stack business.
  • BP on the $4.5 billion development and project financing of two ethane cracker plants in Saudi Arabia.
  • BP on the sale of various downstream businesses to CINVen for $425 million.

Industrials

Advised:

  • IG Design Group plc, the world's largest consumer gift packaging business, on an accelerated bookbuild placing to raise proceeds of £120 million to acquire 100 percent of the equity interest in CSS Industries, Inc., a US-based designer and manufacturer of craft, seasonal and gift products.
  • Melrose plc on the sale of its Brush Traction UK rail services businesses to NYSE listed Wabtec Corporation.
  • Midland Resources Holding on the acquisition of the Jordan Formula 1 Grand Prix team.
  • Royal Bank on the merger of Ambion Brick with CINVen's Chelwood Brick.
  • Wassall plc on the disposal of the Antler luggage business to Royal Bank.
  • Circor International Inc. on the acquisition of Hale Hamilton Holdings Limited.
  • Wassall plc on the disposal of Metal Closures Group to Alcoa Manufacturing.
  • Servomex plc on its recommended takeover by Fairey Group plc.
  • Hutchison Whampoa on the acquisition of the Port of Felixstowe from P&O.

TMT

Advised:

  • Entertainment One on its proposed acquisition by Hasbro Inc. for c.US$4 billion.
  • Entertainment One on the acquisition of Audio Networks for £178 million including a £130 million equity placing underwritten by JP Morgan.
  • Entertainment One on the acquisition of a 70% shareholding in WhizzKid Entertainment.
  • Entertainment One on the acquisition of 49% of The Mark Gordon Company for US$209 million.
  • Shearwater Group plc on its reverse takeover of SecurEnvoy Limited and subsequent acquisitions of GeoLang Holdings, Xcina Consulting and Brookcourt Solutions, all funded by a series of placings.
  • Oxford BioDynamics plc, a revenue generating biotechnology company focussed on the development of epigenetic biomarkers, on its admission to AIM with a market capitalisation of £150 million.
  • Village Roadshow on the acquisition of Opia Limited, the UK’s leading rewards agency.
  • Entertainment One on the acquisition of 70% of Astley Baker Davies, the UK based creator and producer of Peppa Pig, for £140 million funded by a £200 million rights issue underwritten by JPMorgan and Credit Suisse.
  • Entertainment One on its premium listing on the London Stock Exchange and FTSE 250 inclusion.  
  • Entertainment One on its acquisition of Alliance Films Inc for C$225 million to create the largest independent film distributor in the UK and Canada and on the associated debt and equity fundraising of C$325 million led by JP Morgan.
  • Marwyn Neptune Fund on the acquisition of the Entertainment One Group (a listed Canadian income fund) and its subsequent full listing in London and various acquisitions.
  • Village Roadshow on the development and sale of Village Entertainment Park, the largest cinema/retail park in Greece.
  • The Football League on its Internet joint venture with NTL.

Education

The College of Law, Chester

Sheffield University, LLB (Hons)

Admissions

  • England and Wales
  • “Robert Hamill is best known for advising oil and gas companies on acquisitions, restructurings and fund-raisings. He has a strong knowledge of transactions in West Africa. ‘He's very capable and responsive.’ ‘He shows excellent commercial awareness.’" – Chambers UK
  • A “class act” (Oil and Gas). ­– Legal 500
  • Ranked in the Top 50 Global M&A Lawyers list by the Global M&A Network
  • “’He is a brilliant lawyer who is shrewd, direct and experienced.’" – Chambers UK
  • “A key lawyer for Emerging Markets, Equity Capital Markets, Media and Entertainment, and M&A. ‘My primary contact was Rob Hamill. He is brilliant; shrewd, direct, experienced. I would feel comfortable going to him with any new projects.’ (Oil and Gas); 'Rob Hamill has seen it all: very commercial and client focused, and a calm presence in the turbulence of a deal’” (M&A). – Legal 500
  • “Robert Hamill 'is very calm and steady under pressure. He has a unique ability to manage tricky points in a very pleasant manner. Always commercially minded and has the big picture in mind.‘ He 'is a great lawyer, experienced, knowledgeable, supportive and responsive.’” – Legal 500
  • "’He is a great lawyer who is experienced, strategic and responsive.’" – Chambers UK
  • A 'Leading Individual' for Energy & Resources: Oil & Gas – Chambers UK
  • “Robert Hamill of Mayer Brown International LLP co-heads the firm's global energy group. His main areas of expertise include corporate finance, M&A, and joint ventures. Sources say: ‘He's a great lawyer to have on your side.’" – Chambers UK
  • "Solution-driven" – Legal 500
  • “Practice leader Robert Hamill is ‘a very smart, trustworthy and efficient lawyer’ (Oil & Gas). He is an ‘excellent lawyer with a calm demeanor’ and handles corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. ‘Calm, excellent negotiator… good at supervising teams of lawyers.’" – Legal 500
  • "Excellent tactician" Robert Hamill "shows great composure under pressure." – Legal 500
  • Listed and recommended in Who's Who Legal: Mining
  • "’It's a pleasure working with Robert.’" – Chambers UK
  • "Very good on strategic matters" – Legal 500
  • “Clients are delighted with Rob for his negotiation skills, knowledge of the sector and ability to give ‘commercially minded advice.’" – Chambers UK
  • "Outstanding communicator, calm and unflappable." – Legal 500
  • Recommended as a "sector specialist in global energy." – Legal 500
  • “Clients praise his strategic ability and the manner in which he provides ‘clear advice in layman's terms.’" – Chambers UK
  • A "highly regarded" corporate finance partner. – Chambers
  • The "hardworking" Robert "knows his stuff." – Legal 500