AS&H in co-operation with Clifford Chance advises on SAR 2.138 billion acquisition of Second Milling Company in Saudi Arabia as part of Vision 2030-related privatisation drive
Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm (AS&H) in co-operation with Clifford Chance has advised the consortium of Abdul Aziz Al-Ajlan Sons for Commercial and Real Estate Investments Company, Sulaiman Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi International Company, National Agricultural Development Company and Olam International Limited (together, the “Consortium”) on the definitive agreements to acquire the Second Milling Company for SAR 2.138 billion (approximately USD 570.13 million) that was offered for privatisation by the Saudi Grains Organisation (SAGO) as part of the privatisation of the grains and flour milling sector in Saudi Arabia.
The team was co-led by partners Majid Al-Sheikh (Head of Corporate) and Omar Rashid with support from Senior Associate Ali Moiz Ansari and Associates Qasim Rasool, Noura Abdulrahman, Mohammed Ghazzawi and Abdullah Al-Huwayshan, all based in Riyadh.
We advised the Consortium on the share purchase agreement agreed and executed with the National Center for Privatisation to give effect to the acquisition and the shareholders’ agreement to govern the relationship as between the Consortium members. In addition, we are also advising the Consortium on the external financing that will be put in place for the acquisition of the Second Milling Company.
This flour mill transaction comes after AS&H successfully advised the consortium comprising of Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Holding Group and the UAE's Al Ghurair Foods LLC on its SAR750 million (US$200 million) acquisition of the Third Milling Company. This continues the trend of the Kingdom’s use of the private sector to build and operate public assets by way of “public private partnership” (PPP). It also solidifies AS&H in co-operation with Clifford Chance as a leading law firm for advising and acting on PPP projects in the Kingdom.
Besides advising on the successful close of the Third Milling Company, AS&H in cooperation with Clifford Chance also recently advised Riyadh’s airport (KKIA) on the procurement of their cargo terminal concession to SATS, the Singapore airport services company and Al Rajhi Bank on the US$69 million (SAR258 million) Islamic debt facility in relation to the Taif independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) in Mecca Province. The team is also advising the Ministry of Health on its privatisation initiatives including the privatisation of the Dialysis services (financial close in 2019) as well as the procurement of the Alansar Hospital BOT project.