Central Asian Sells Hurricane Hydrocarbons Shares

On December 18, 2002, a secondary public offering of class A common shares of Hurricane Hydrocarbons Ltd., was completed for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $122 million. CIBC World Markets Inc. and BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. were the underwriters. Central Asian Industrial Holdings NV sold 8.8 million common shares, at $13.85 per share. Hurricane is an integrated international energy company headquartered in Windsor, U.K.

The sale included an underwriters over-allotment option to purchase 800,000 common shares, which was exercised in full prior to closing. The offering was made by way of a short-form PREP prospectus filed in Canada and a registration statement on Form F-10 filed in the U.S., under the multijurisdictional disclosure system.

Central Asian Industrial Holdings was represented in Canada by Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, with a team that included Jeffery Barnes, William Fung and Joshua Yarmus (securities) and Patrick Boyle (tax), and in the U.S., by Kevin Keogh and Martin Glass of White & Case LLP in New York.

Hurricane was represented in-house by Tony Peart, senior vice-president, general counsel and secretary; in Canada, by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP with a team including Tom Smee, Jim Reid, Brett Seifred and Emer Kelly (securities) and John Zinn and Jonathan Tennant (tax); and in the U.S., by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York with a team including Ted Maynard, Sajid Ajmeri, Gustavo Pauta and Vance Woodward (securities) and David Sicular and Paul Seraganian (tax).

Macleod Dixon LLP was Canadian counsel to the underwriters, with a team including Kevin Johnson, Tad Gruchalla-Wesierski, Justin Ferrara, Neville Jugnauth and Marcus Archerand in Canada, and Maxim Telemtayev in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Toronto acted as U.S. counsel to the underwriters, with a team including Christopher Morgan, Jason Saltzman and Sally Whitehead.