One of the acquired companies is in Cyprus, with a 50 per cent interest in Brunei's Block L, while the other two companies are in The Nether­lands, with varying interests in Indonesia.

Corrs partner Peter Ickeringill said the success of the transaction depended on a high level of ingenuity. "The transaction required considerable legal and financial innovation, as it involved three separate transactions, which were not condition­al on each other but commercially linked," he said.

"The consideration included the issue of AED shares to Nations, which increased the com­plexity of the transaction, particularly as the shares can be bought back by AED in certain cir­cumstances."

During the transaction, Corrs provided advice to AED in relation to the negotiation of the sale and the purchase and subscription documentation.

The firm also conducted due diligence, pro­vided regulatory advice, coordinated relevant for­eign legal advice and implemented various as­pects of the transaction in foreign jurisdictions.

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"We faced constant new legal, regulatory and environmental challenges, as timeframes were often extended and we were dealing with multi­ple foreign jurisdictions," said Ickeringill.

"This extremely complex transaction took five months to negotiate, document and complete."