Cleary Gottlieb is representing Premcor Inc. on the antitrust aspects of its just-announced $8 billion merger with Valero Energy Corp., one of the top U.S. refining companies.
The transaction will add four refineries and 790,000 barrels per day of throughput to Valero’s system. The Wall Street Journal reports that the merger will create the largest refining company in the United States. With this acquisition, Valero will have total assets of $25 billion and annual revenues of nearly $70 billion, which would rank it No. 15 on the current listing of the Fortune 500.
Premcor is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners and suppliers of unbranded transportation fuels, heating oil, petrochemical feedstocks, petroleum coke and other petroleum products in the United States.
Cleary Gottlieb has served as antitrust counsel on a number of the major oil and gas mergers of the last decade, including Tosco’s acquisition of Unocal’s West Coast petroleum refining, marketing and transportation assets; Exxon’s merger with Mobil; Phillips Petroleum’s acquisition of Tosco; and Conoco’s merger with Phillips Petroleum. Previously, Cleary served as antitrust counsel to Premcor in its $455 million acquisition of The Williams’ Companies Tennessee refinery and associated assets.