Craig Culbertson

Craig R. Culbertson is former managing partner of the firm’s Chicago office and is a former member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He regularly represents companies, banks, funds, boards of directors and special committees in a variety of corporate/finance matters, including corporate governance, financial transactions, international projects, mergers and acquisitions and complex commercial arrangements.

His clients include Fortune 100 companies ranging in industries from oil trading to aerospace to food and beverage to banking/finance to steel manufacturing.

Craig represents both domestic and foreign companies and funds in a variety of complex international and domestic crude oil and products and related transactions, particularly in the mid-stream oil, products and gas and sectors. His practice in this area encompasses acquisitions, joint ventures, pre-export financings, minority investments and complex commercial arrangements.

Craig is regularly involved in tender and exchange offers, proxy contests, auctions, acquisitions, defensive planning, going private transactions and other corporate governance matters.

Craig represents numerous issuers, underwriters, banks, other lenders and borrowers, in a wide variety of equity and debt financing transactions, including pre-export financings. A few recent projects are highlighted below.

EXPERIENCE :

• Representation of Tesoro in its Project Earle: the transfer of various logistics assets into Tesoro Logistics LLP and the IPO of that Master Limited Partnership.
• Representation of Tenneco Inc. in its $1.1 billion registered exchange offer of Tenneco Packaging note and debenture securities for outstanding Tenneco Inc. note and debenture securities.
• Representation of Tesoro in its Project Franklin: the $2.5 billion acquisition from BP of a large complex oil refinery and related logistics assets located in Southern California.
• Representation of LUKOIL (largest Russian oil company) in a $1.5 billion long-term export-backed financing by a consortium of five western money-center banks (structured and negotiated but not closed due to collapse of Russian economy).
• Representation of Pacalta Resources in a financing to construct an electric power generating plant for oil fields in Ecuador.
• Representation of Castle Energy Corporation in connection with a public secondary offering of common stock.
• Representation of a leading Chicago bank in ongoing, complex financing transactions for a National Football League franchise and its owner.
• Representation of iTRACS Corporation in numerous equity, mezzanine and senior financing transactions.
• Representation of Castor Petroleum in its ongoing projects respecting the Petroterminal de Panama oil pipeline and other international supply, trading shipping and logistics transactions.
• Representation of Pacalta Resources (Canadian energy company) in an Ecuadorian oil field financing by Barclays Bank.
• Representation of Harvest Energy Trust in its $1.6 billion acquisition from Vitol Group of the Come-by-Chance Oil Refinery in Newfoundland.
• Representation of Castle Energy Corporation in the acquisition of oil and gas wells from Atlantic Richfield Company and its subsidiaries for approximately $2 billion.

Education :

• Loyola University Chicago, JD, summa cum laude, 1980
• Davidson College, BA, cum laude, 1977

Admissions : Illinois

Affiliations :

• Board Member, Northwestern University Center on Wrongful Convictions; Lead or participation in several amicus briefs
• Member; Advisory Panel; Corporate Governance Committee, American Bar Association
• Vice Chair, “Investing in Justice” Campaigns, Chicago Bar Association, 2010-2012
• Board of Directors and Member of the Executive and Finance Committees, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Foundation
• Board of Directors; Outside General Counsel, Chicago Catalyst Charter Schools
• Member, The Economic Club of Chicago
• Member, Royal Dornoch Club, Sutherland, Scotland.