ATMAN SHUKLA’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and investment transactions (including joint ventures) for clients in the energy and infrastructure space, including upstream, oilfield services, midstream, and downstream (including power, refining and trading). Atman’s practice also includes aviation matters, particularly in the regional airline space and, more recently, in the sustainable aviation space.
Atman has recently co-led the following transactions:
- Represented funds advised by Wafra Inc. in the acquisition of Aquila Air Capital from funds managed by Warburg Pincus LLC. Aquila is a specialty finance platform focused on providing aviation asset financing, including purchasing and leasing aircraft engines.
- Represented a private credit platform in the restructuring of its debt and equity arrangements with an LNG developer and its sponsorship of a new management team.
- Represented a buyer and its equity sponsor in the purchase of an ethanol production facility and a related carbon capture development project, as well as in related financing arrangements.
- Represented the founder of Commonwealth LNG in Kimmeridge’s additional equity investment in Commonwealth LNG.
- Represented Bradford Airport Logistics, a leading provider of advanced logistics services to airports and other transportation hubs through its proprietary Centralized Receiving and Distribution Centers model, in a significant growth equity investment from Bregal Sagemount, a leading private equity platform with a focus on growth investments in the United States and Europe.
- Represented Energy Transfer LP in its purchase of Lotus Midstream LLC (an affiliate of EnCap Flatrock Midstream) for approximately US$1.45 billion, including approximately 3,000 miles of crude gathering and transportation pipelines extending from Southeast New Mexico across the Permian Basin of West Texas to Cushing, Oklahoma, a crude storage terminal in Midland, Texas that increases Energy Transfer’s storage capacity by approximately two million barrels, and a 5% equity interest in the Wink to Webster Pipeline.
- Represented Greene’s Energy Group and Denham Capital in their sale of Greene’s Energy Group, LLC to KLX Energy Services Holdings, Inc. (KLX) for approximately 2.4 million shares of KLX common stock.
- Represented United Airlines in its transaction with Mesa Airlines (Mesa) involving the restructuring of Mesa’s long-term capacity purchase agreement (including the addition of up to 38 CRJ-900 aircraft), the assumption of all of CIT Bank’s rights and obligations under a credit facility with Mesa, the agreement to purchase 30 GE aircraft engines for gross proceeds of approximately US$80 million, and related equity and governance arrangements.
- Represented Sunoco LP in its purchase from Zenith Energy of 16 refined product terminals across the East Coast and Midwest, for approximately US$110 million.
- Represented VoltaGrid in its acquisition from Pilot Company of substantially all of Pilot Company’s CNG compression, CNG virtual pipeline, and CNG logistics platform assets, making VoltaGrid the largest vertically integrated portable power generation and clean fuels platform in North America.
- Representing Enbridge, Inc. in its transaction with Encap Flatrock Midstream to acquire Moda Midstream Operating, LLC for US$3 billion in cash.
- Representing JERA Americas Inc. in the US$2.5 billion purchase of a 25.7% equity ownership interest from Global Infrastructure Partners in Freeport LNG Development, L.P.
- Representing I Squared Capital in a transaction in which affiliates of Blackstone and I Squared Capital are merging EagleClaw Midstream into Altus Midstream, a public company subsidiary of Apache Corp.
- Representing NuStar Energy L.P., one of the largest independent liquids terminal and pipeline operators in the nation, in the sale of eight storage terminal locations to Sunoco LP for US$250 million.
He has also recently co-led the following sustainable aviation transactions:
- Representing United Airlines in an agreement to work with Archer Aviation, an air mobility company, whose electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is designed to use electric motors and have the potential for future use as an “air taxi” in urban markets.
- Representing United Airlines in its commercial agreement to work with Denver-based aerospace company Boom Supersonic on an aircraft purchase, as well as a cooperative sustainability initiative.
- Representing United Airlines Ventures in its investment in electric aircraft startup Heart Aerospace along with Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Mesa Airlines.
- Represented American Airlines in its investment in Vertical Aerospace, a leading UK-headquartered engineering and aeronautical business developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, in which American has agreed to pre-order, subject to certain future agreed upon milestones and other terms, up to 250 aircrafts, representing a potential pre-order commitment of US$1 billion, and an option to order an additional 100 aircrafts.
Atman’s corporate practice also includes experience with capital markets transactions (both private and public, and both debt and equity), as well as corporate governance matters. Atman has also advised start-ups and emerging ventures through Sidley’s Emerging Enterprises Pro Bono Program.
Recently, Atman has been named a “Rising Star” by Law360 in the Energy category, which honors lawyers under the age of 40 “whose legal accomplishments belie their age” (2024). He was recognized as a leading lawyer by Lawdragon 500 Leading Energy Lawyers (2024). Atman was noted as a part of Sidley’s Aviation and Airlines team which was named the winner of Financial Times’ 2021 “Innovation in Sustainability and ESG” award for its work in helping aviation and airlines industry clients reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He was also named to Oil and Gas Investor’s “40 Under 40” list in 2022. Atman also served as a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Jeff Bohm of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas (July 2008–August 2008).