Alba is among the world's largest aluminium smelters. Its principal activities are to build and operate smelters for the production of aluminium, to sell aluminium within and outside the Kingdom of Bahrain and to carry on any related business to complement its operations.

The transaction supports Ma’aden’s continued growth ambitions to grow 10x by 2040 and the Kingdom's ambitions to make mining the third pillar of its national economy as set out in Vision 2030, with Ma'aden's aluminium business being a core contributing factor to that strategy and the acquisition of shares in a highly experienced, well developed regional and global aluminium players supporting these ambitions.

The team advising Ma’aden was led by Partners Mansoor Alhagbani and Omar Rashid and Senior Associates Muhammad Ansab and Haifa Al Damegh. Selman Ansari led on the antitrust aspects of the transaction. Additionally, ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners provided counsel on the Bahraini law aspects of the transaction.

AS&H Clifford Chance has a strong track record of advising on some of the largest, most innovative and complex M&A transactions. This includes advising the Public Investment Fund on its US$69 billion sale of its stake in SABIC, which remains the largest ever M&A transaction in the Middle East, as well as advising National Commercial Bank on its merger with Samba Financial Group, which created the largest bank in Saudi Arabia.