Experience

Privatizations & PPPs

Derayah LLPC (Saudilegal) is at the forefront of advising clients on privatizations and public private partnerships in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, acting as legal counsel from the very beginning of the country’s privatization program.  The firm advised on the first Saudi Arabian privatization/deregulation where competition to the incumbent service provider was allowed, advised on the country’s airport privatizations, advised on the first Saudi Arabian independent sewage treatment plant under a BOOT concession model and advised on the first Saudi Arabian Independent Power Project. The firm advises on the full spectrum of privatization and public private partnership models including, amongst others, Build Transfer Operate (BTO), Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) and Build Lease Operate Transfer (BLOT). A representative list of our expertise is set out below:


  • We advised the Saudi Arabian Telecommunications and Information Technology Regulator in connection with the issuance of the second Saudi Arabian GSM licence. This was the first Saudi Arabian privatization/deregulation where competition to the incumbent service provider was allowed.
  • Counsel to the project company in connection with the Haj Terminal Complex BOT Project at King Abdulaziz International Airport, Saudi Arabia’s first airport PPP.
  • Counsel to the second ranked Saudi Malaysian consortium in connection with their bid (including support from lenders) for the public-private partnership project at Prince Mohammed International Airport at Medinah.
  • We advised the consortium that Saudi Arabia’s Water & Electricity Company selected as preferred bidder for the planned Dammam West independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP), the Kingdom’s first ISTP to be awarded to the private sector under the BOOT concession model. The consortium is led by Metito, and also includes Mowah and Orascom Construction. The planned ISTP will have a capacity of up to 350,000 cm/d, and will be developed under a 25-year sewage treatment agreement. WEC’s obligations under the STA project costs approximately US$ 245 million, with funding sourced from a combination of senior project finance loans and equity contributions from shareholders. Non-recourse project financing is provided by a group of local and international banks.
  • We advise on a long-term basis Dow and Sadara Chemical Company in connection with its joint venture with Saudi Aramco for the development, financing and construction of a petrochemicals complex in Jubail. We advised in connection with the March 2016 capital increase of SAR 2 billion. Sadara is the largest petrochemical and chemical complex world-wide, the largest foreign investment in Saudi Arabia, and the largest project financing in the Middle East. In addition to the 26 plants forming part of the project, there were two joint ventures and three “over the fence” projects (on BOOT basis) adjoining the Sadara complex. We continue to carry out follow up work such as the renewal of the security registrations for the pledged assets and accounts, capital increase and additional project documents. In addition, we advised Sadara and Dow on several loan facilities that were to be provided, insured or guaranteed by several ECAs. The ECA financing included a US$ 4.975 billion direct loan to Sadara from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (US Ex-Im Bank), which is the largest loan approved by US Ex-Im Bank to date.
  • We advised the lenders in a limited recourse financing of the first Independent Power Project in Saudi Arabia, which was named Middle East IPP Deal of the Year by Project Finance magazine. The project company Jubail Energy Company, a joint venture between CMS Energy and National Power Company, provides power and steam (approximately 240 MW and 510-ton steam) to SADAF on a BOOT basis.
  • We advised the project company in the development and construction of the first Independent Water Project in Saudi Arabia that was implemented on a BOOT basis for Saudi Aramco in Rabigh.
  • We advised the mandated lead arrangers in the Saudi Aramco Cogeneration Project for the development, financing and construction of three plants by Power Cogeneration Plant Company on a BOOT basis. This included relevant facilities, substations and auxiliary equipment. During the third phase, we acted as Saudi counsel to the bidding consortium (led by Marubeni Corporation) and the lenders.
  • We represented Al Raha Al Safi Food Company, in connection with the privatization of SAGO’s milling operations. The first milling company (Milling Company 1) was sold for SAR 2.027 billion to the Al-Raha Al-Safi Consortium. This was the first privatization under Vision 2030.
  • We advised and represented in 2004 the first Saudi Arabian private sector telecommunications operator, the Etisalat Consortium, in connection with an Islamic financing valued at US$2.35 billion, the largest Islamic finance transaction to date in Saudi Arabia.
  • We advised Saudi Trade & Export Development Company (Tusdeer) in connection with the privatization of a new 500,000 TEU terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port, including a US$374 million ijara facility.