Latham & Watkins Advises Chevron in Renewable Fuels Joint Venture With Bunge

Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), and Bunge North America, Inc., a subsidiary of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), have announced the signing of definitive transaction agreements to create their previously announced joint venture.  

The new venture will create renewable feedstocks leveraging Bunge’s expertise in oilseed processing and farmer relationships and Chevron’s expertise in fuels manufacturing and marketing.  Bunge’s soybean processing plants in Destrehan, Louisiana and Cairo, Illinois will be contributed to the joint venture with Chevron contributing approximately US$600 million in cash. Plans include approximately doubling the combined capacity of these facilities from 7,000 tons per day by the end of 2024.  The joint venture may also explore opportunities in other renewable feedstocks, as well as in feedstock pretreatment.

Latham & Watkins LLP represents Chevron in the transaction with a corporate deal team led by Houston partners Justin Stolte and Jonathan Castelan, with Houston associates Ashley Nguyen, Greg Sorensen, Sam Bentley, Carlyle Reid, Joseph Kmetz, Janhavi Das, Morgan Moore and Morgen Seim.  Advice was also provided on tax matters by Houston partner Jim Cole, with Houston associate Dominick Constantino; on benefits and compensation matters by Century City partner Julie Crisp; on environmental matters by Los Angeles counsel Joshua Marnitz, with Los Angeles associate Jennifer Garlock; on antitrust matters by Washington, D.C. partner Ian Conner, Brussels partner Hector Armengod and Washington, D.C. counsel Patrick English, with Brussels associates Anthemis Economou and Alvaro López Usatorre; on intellectual property matters by Washington, D.C. counsel Kieran Dickinson, with Bay Area associate Ryan Sanders; on finance matters by Houston counsel Bryce Kaufman; on real estate matters by San Diego partner Robert Frances; and on litigation matters by Chicago retired partner Tom Heiden.