Latham & Watkins Advises on American Ocean Minerals Corporation Merger With Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.

American Ocean Minerals Corporation (AOMC) and Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMEX) (Odyssey) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine their businesses and create a leading deep‑sea critical minerals research and resource extraction platform. The transaction values the combined company at approximately US$1 billion and includes a private placement of over US$150 million from prominent institutional and strategic investors, as well as a US$75 million pre‑public financing completed in February by AOMC.

Latham & Watkins LLP represented Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., the lead capital markets advisors for AOMC and joint private placement agents with respect to AOMC’s private placement financing, in the transaction with a corporate team led by New York partner Erika Weinberg and Houston partner Ryan Maierson, with associates Rachel Moore and Michelle Zheleznyakov.* Advice was also provided on environment, health, and safety matters by Washington, D.C. partner Janice Schneider and Los Angeles/Houston partner Joshua Marnitz, with associate Jacqueline Zhang.

*Admitted to practice in England and Wales only.