Global law firm White & Case LLP is representing Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) on its joint venture with The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) to build and operate a US$20 billion world-scale integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco and its predecessor company, the Arabian American Oil Company, has been a White & Case client for more than half a century.
Saudi Aramco and Dow recently announced that each of their boards of directors has approved the formation of the joint venture, to be named Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara). The complex to be built and operated by Sadara will be one of the largest integrated chemicals complexes in the world and the largest ever built in a single phase. Construction is set to begin immediately, with the first production units scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2015 and all units scheduled to be completed in 2016. The complex will produce more than 3 million metric tons of chemical and performance plastic products. Export credit agencies and international, regional and Saudi banks and financial institutions are expected to provide project financing to Sadara.
“We are delighted to provide a multi-disciplinary team from our global network to advise Saudi Aramco on all aspects of the development and financing of this strategic joint venture with Dow,” commented White & Case partner Wendell Maddrey.
The White & Case project development team is led by partners Wendell Maddrey (New York) and Steve Payne (Beijing), working together with partners Saul Daniel (Abu Dhabi), Sean Wang (Beijing), Ellis Baker (London), Jean Shimotake and Adam Chernichaw (New York), and Waleed Al-Nuwaiser, Charles-Henri Arminjon and Antoine Cousin (Riyadh). Assisting these partners are associates Luke Robottom, Mel Staley and Paul Tovey (Abu Dhabi), Yasser Riad (Beijing), Michael Watson, Scott Chalmers, Leighton Moon, Anne-Marie Lowe (London), Clark Wohlferd, Ivan Paskal, Saira Khan, (New York) and Hamad Al-Hoshan (Riyadh).
The White & Case project finance team is led by partners Philip Stopford and Tom Bartlett (London), working with partner John Lillis (New York) and with assistance from associates Paul Harrison, Paul Simpson, Emily Pender, Adrian Montague and Yan Ng (London).
With more than 200 lawyers internationally, White & Case’s Global Project Finance Practice offers market-leading expertise regarding project structuring and development, financing, government regulation, construction and other contract issues, and mergers and acquisitions. This expertise spans several sectors, including oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, mining and metals, infrastructure, telecoms and PPP/PFI.
In the first half of 2011, White & Case was ranked first globally for project finance, according to data compiled by Dealogic. The Firm ranked first in terms of deal value: US$10.2 billion. Two White & Case project finance deals – the €7.8 billion SEA high-speed railway public-private partnership and the €7.4 billion Nord Stream pipeline project – were highlighted by Dealogic as the No. 1 and 2 deals, respectively, in its listing of the top 10 deals for the first half of the year.
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