White & Case Advises on Saudi Arabia's First Independent Sewage Treatment Plant

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) on Saudi Arabia's first independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP).

"We continue to play a leading role in the water sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including pathfinder projects," said White & Case partner Antoine Cousin, who led the Firm's deal team. "We worked closely with SWPC to deliver this landmark transaction, which adds to our track record of supporting successful projects in challenging market conditions."

The transaction reached financial close on May 19, 2020. SWPC awarded the project to a consortium led by the Metito Group under a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) 25-year concession.

The Dammam ISTP has a designed capacity of 350,000 cubic meters per day and will serve the western region of Dammam. The project is worth US$245 million with the investment made up of a combination of equity and debt. Non-recourse project financing is being provided by a group of local and international banks, including the National Commercial Bank (NCB), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited (SMBC) and the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP).

The ISTP is the first of it is kind in the Kingdom and the precedent-setting project helps to expedite its plans to achieve the water treatment goals of the National Water Strategy.  In addition, the treated sewage effluent produced by the plant will help reduce the Kingdom's reliance on groundwater for irrigation purposes.

The White & Case team which advised on the transaction was led by partner Antoine Cousin (Abu Dhabi) and included partners Adam Pierson (Riyadh) and Alexander Malahias (Abu Dhabi), and associates Michael Gabriel, Jennifer Riddle, Adam Freeman (all Abu Dhabi), Alex Field (London) and Ruba Alharthi (Riyadh).

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