With a value of over US$2.7tn, Saudi Arabia’s capital market is one of the fastest-growing investment destinations in the world. As issuers and investors look for new avenues for growth, we provide cutting-edge legal support our global and regional clients as they successfully navigate investment trends.

Our capital markets team advises many of the biggest players in the market on their most significant and complex capital markets transactions. In recognition of this, our award-winning team is consistently ranked in the top tier by all legal directories and has been recognised as the region’s best capital markets team twice in the past three years.

From helping clients navigate challenging mandates, through to acting on some of the most structurally complex transactions across Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region, our experience ranges from debt, sukuk and equity issues through to derivatives and structured finance.

Highlights of our work in Saudi Arabia include:

• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia acting through the Ministry of Finance: advising on the Kingdom’s GMTN and Sukuk Programmes, including nearly US$30bn issuances hereunder.
• Banque Saudi Fransi: advising on the establishment of its US$4bn MTN Programme and the issuance of US$700m 5.5% notes due 2027 thereunder.
• Saudi National Bank advising:
• the arrangers, dealers and joint lead managers on the establishment of Saudi National Bank’s US$5bn global bond programme and first-of-its kind US$5bn global sukuk programme and the debut issuance thereunder of US$750m, 2.342% Sustainable sukuk. 
• the issuer on its US$ and SAR AT1 issuances (from 2013 until present).
• the issuer on its issuance of SAR5bn Tier 2 capital Basel III-compliant Sukuk, the largest capital markets issuance by a financial institution in Saudi Arabia and the largest subordinated instrument by a financial institution in the MENA region.
• Alinma Bank: advising the issuer on its SAR5bn sukuk issuance and the establishment of its sukuk issuance programme.
• National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri): advising on its SAR 3.9bn sukuk issuance (mudaraba/murabaha).

Recognised as one of the leading corporate/M&A practices in the Kingdom, our team on-the-ground in Riyadh works with corporates, financial sponsors and investment banks on their most significant and complex transactions in the market. We cover the full spectrum of corporate work advising buyers, sellers and financial advisers on public takeovers, private M&A, equity capital markets, private equity, joint ventures and commercial partnerships, disposals and corporate restructurings. Our end-to-end approach brings together our leading transactional expertise with the full range of specialist areas including antitrust, employment and incentives, environmental, intellectual property and technology.

Highlights of our work in Saudi Arabia include: 

• NEOM Company: advising on a US$200m joint venture with OneWeb to bring high-speed satellite connectivity to NEOM, Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and neighbouring East African countries.
• Zain Saudi Arabia: advising on the carve-out and sale of a majority state in tower infrastructure to the Public Investment Fund and others.
• Saudi Aramco gas pipelines: advising a successful Abu Dhabi-based bidder on the multibillion international investment into Saudi Aramco’s natural gas pipelines (MENA Oil & Gas Deal of the Year, IJ Global Awards 2021).
• SABIC Agri-Nutrients Company: advising on the acquisition of the agricultural nutrients businesses of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) in exchange for shares listed on the Saudi Exchange.
• Saudi Electricity Company: advising on the carve-out and transfer of its power procurement business to the Saudi Government.
• Saudi Telecom Company (stc) and ESM Holdings Limited: advising on the SAR 450m sale of 100% shares in Contact Center Company, a premier provider of customer experience solutions to enterprises in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to Arabian Internet and Communications Company (Solutions).
• Al Rajhi Holding and other shareholders: advising on the sale of shares in ACWA Power to the Public Investment Fund and others, increasing the fund’s shareholding from 33.35% to 50%.
• Linde: advising on the establishment of an industrial gases joint venture in Saudi Arabia with Sipchem.
• Advanced Petrochemical: advising on a joint venture with SK Gas to build and operate a US$1.8bn propane dehydrogenation and polypropylene plants in Jubail.

With Saudi Arabia’s major investment plants in the energy and infrastructure sectors, clients need to work with a law firm that can draw on its regional expertise and international best practice to advise them on their complex, large scale transactions in this market.

Our energy & infrastructure team specialises in large scale, market-leading projects – covering a variety of sectors including power and water, hydrogen, refining and petrochemicals, oil and gas, PPP/PFI, infrastructure, energy and natural resources, mining and minerals. The team has extensive experience of complex, multi-tranche financings, with a mixture of conventional and Islamic structures, Export Credit and DFI/Multilaterals, international and regional lenders.

The breadth of our practice helps us to draw on our experience across different sectors and jurisdictions, enabling us to provide solutions to our clients’ most challenging transactions in Saudi Arabia and across the MENA region.

Highlights of our work in Saudi Arabia include:

• NEOM Residential Communities: advising NEOM on the procurement and development of its residential communities’ project, a social infrastructure project that will house the growing workforce of the region taking shape in northwest Saudi Arabia. This is the largest accommodation PPP project in the region and one of the largest PPP projects in the Middle East to date.
• NEOM FDP: advising NEOM on its first selective desalination plant in Saudi Arabia that it will be powered solely by renewables and will involve no liquid discharge.
• Saudi electricity market reorganisation:advising on the reorganisation of the Saudi electricity market, including the carve-out and transfer of its power procurement business to SPPC.
• Renewable energy programme establishment: advising a Saudi gigacity on the establishment of its renewable energy programme including auction design and implementation of the first solar and wind projects.
• Taiba and Qassim IPPs: advising the procurer on the development of these two 3.5GW greenfield gas fired IPPs and their subsequent retendering as four 1.8GW projects.
• Ras Al Khair IWP: advising a bidder on the proposed privatisation of a 2.65GW power generation and 1.05m m3/d water desalination facility.
• Amiral Petrochemicals Complex: advising SACE, KEXIM, K-SURE, JBIC, CESCE, Euler Hermes, Bpifrance AE and the commercial lenders on the US$15bn financing of the petrochemical complex (sponsored by Saudi Aramco and Total) which is scheduled to begin operations in 2027. 
• INEOS Downstream Cluster in Jubail: advising INEOS on the development and financing of derivative plants co-located with the SATORP Export Refinery in Saudi Arabia.
• SATORP Refinery and Petrochemical Project, Saudi Arabia: advising the finance parties (including KEXIM, K-SURE, JBIC, NEXI, SACE, Coface and Hermes) on the original US$14bn financing and subsequent refinancing of the Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Project (Project Finance Deal of the Year, IFLR Middle East Awards 2010; Middle East Petrochemicals Deal of the Year, Project Finance International Awards 2010; Middle East Oil and Gas Deal of the Year, Project Finance Magazine/Euromoney Awards 2010; and Deal of the Year, Trade Finance Magazine Deals of the Year 2010).

In line with regional trends, investments in emerging technologies and telecommunications are the forefront of the agenda in Saudi Arabia. As this sector continues to rapidly transform businesses, markets and everyday life, our priority is to help clients at all stages of growth maximise opportunities and navigate the threats in this increasingly interconnected, regulated, dynamic and demanding world, using our deep extensive experience in this field.

With a unique mix of expertise in data, privacy, AI and other emerging technologies, digital infrastructure, telecoms and fintech, our Middle East TMT practice is supported by a deep bench of complementary practices with knowledge of the tech sector clients and their pressing  issues. The breadth of our team, led by our Middle East-based experts and drawing on our global expertise, allows us to work on complex projects, ranging from  regulatory advisory matters, data and privacy  compliance, complex technology commercial transactions, licensing of intellectual property rights  to due diligence and transaction document workstreams in corporate or financing transactions.

Highlights of our work in Saudi Arabia include: 

• NEOM Company: advising on a US$200m joint venture with OneWeb to bring high-speed satellite connectivity to NEOM, Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and neighbouring East African countries.
• Zain Saudi Arabia: advising on the carve-out and sale of a majority state in tower infrastructure to the Public Investment Fund and others.
• Saudi Telecom Company (stc) and ESM Holdings Limited: advising on the SAR 450m sale of 100% shares in Contact Center Company, a premier provider of customer experience solutions to enterprises in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to Arabian Internet and Communications Company (Solutions).
• Saudi hyperscale data centres: negotiating our client’s arrangements with a US tech/cloud company and other arrangements for the development and maintenance of hyperscale data centres.
• Saudi Ministry of Finance: advising on several complex technology arrangements, including for government cloud services and a large-scale all-of-government ERP project.