Owen Ratner and Eugenia Borgese at Sydney firm Pigott Stinson advised the Sydney-based Barlow Jonker.

The Freehills team was led by Tony Damian, who said the transaction “was a further example of the market’s current interest in the coal industry”.

He was assisted by senior associate Fiona Scattergood and solicitor Jamie Snaddon.

Wood Mackenzie and Barlow Jonker’s businesses are both founded on providing proprietary supply data on the energy industry and independent analysis, but until now Wood Mackenzie covered mostly the oil, gas and power markets, while Barlow Jonker specialises in the coal industry.

“The combination of both businesses provides, for the first time, a single global picture of the coal business and its contribution to the world’s future energy needs,” Stephen Halliday, executive director for energy at Wood Mackenzie, said in a statement.

“This enables Wood Mackenzie to provide clients with a unique integrated offering, bringing together deep expertise in the oil, gas, coal and power sectors.”

Jeremy Barlow, chairman of Barlow Jonker said there was increasing “interdependency between different parts of the energy value chain and across different fuels”, and the integration of his company’s coal expertise with Wood Mackenzie will increase their ability to support their clients’ commercial decision-making.

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In April, Wood Mackenzie also bought Hill & Associates, a similar business in the US. The Barlow Jonker deal will add another 20 coal specialists to its expertise base.