LAWFUEL – The Law Firm Newswire – Clifford Chance in conjunction with Al Jadaan Law Firm in Saudi Arabia has advised Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company in the US$1.8 billion IPO of Saudi Kayan, a petrochemicals project.
The offer is the second largest offering ever in Saudi Arabia and closed on 7 May. The transaction involved teams from Clifford Chance’s Frankfurt and Dubai offices. Nicholas Wong and Edmund Boyo led the projects team in Frankfurt and Simon Clinton and Nick Watson led the corporate team in Dubai.
Al Jadaan’s team was led by Mohammed Al Jadaan and Abdullah Al Hashim. Clifford Chance and Al Jadaan Law Firm are also acting on a US$6 billion financing for the project, the total cost of which is estimated to be US$10 billion.
SABIC will be a 35% shareholder in Saudi Kayan.The SABIC group is the Middle East’s largest non-oil industrial group and the sixth largest international petrochemical group in the world. Saudi Kayan will operate an integrated upstream and downstream petrochemicals complex and will produce a number of products, including polycarbonates, which have not previously been produced in Saudi Arabia. It is currently envisaged that all plants in the complex will be commercially operating by the third quarter of 2010.
Nicholas Wong, Energy and Infrastructure Partner in the Frankfurt office commented: “SABIC are a tremendously important client of the firm. This represents a major milestone in the Saudi Kayan project and in our relationship with SABIC.”
Nick Watson, Corporate Senior Associate in the firm’s Dubai office commented: “This IPO is a landmark transaction in the Saudi market and we are delighted to have been involved in it. Our equity capital markets practice in the region continues to perform strongly. Working in conjunction with Al Jadaan Law Firm, I believe the combination of on-the-ground local and international expertise, which we provide clients on offerings in the Saudi market is unrivalled. ”
Nick Molan, Matthew Meyerink, Mohammad Al Rashid and Ed Bretherton from Clifford Chance also worked on the transaction, as well as Shaun Gallagher and Ben Houston from the London construction team.
