Clifford Chance advised the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), the investment arm of the Saudi Government, on the acquisition of a 38% stake consisting of new and existing shares in Posco Engineering & Construction Co Ltd (Posco E&C), a leading Korean engineering and construction company with operations in Asia, the Middle East, South America and Europe. The parties are also presently considering their strategic options for Saudi Arabia including the potential establishment of an EPC/construction company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“We were delighted to work with PIF on this landmark transaction which represents PIF’s first significant outbound investment. Given the strength and depth of our Saudi practice, together with our renowned capabilities in Seoul, Clifford Chance was ideally placed to provide PIF with seamless advice on both the Korean and Saudi aspects of the transaction,” Lead Partner, Riyadh-based Omar Rashid said.
NCB Capital and JP Morgan were the joint financial advisors for PIF and Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised POSCO and Posco E&C on the transaction.
“We are glad Clifford Chance worked as legal counsel on this important transaction given the firm’s strength in the M&A field out of its Riyadh office. They were always available and provided excellent and insightful advice throughout,” Wassim Al Khatib, Head of Investment Banking for NCB Capital, said.
The Clifford Chance corporate team based in Saudi Arabia continues to advise on some of the country’s most prominent deals including advising Savola Group on the SAR 910 million sale of Savola Packing Systems Company to Takween Advanced Industries Company, Bahri on the US$1.3 billion merger of the fleets and operations of Bahri and Vela International Marine Limited and Aujan Industries Co. on the sale of approximately half of the equity in its beverage business to The Coca-Cola Company for US$980 million.
The Clifford Chance team was led by Omar Rashid (Partner, Riyadh). Omar was supported by Hyun Kim (Partner, Seoul), Khalid Al-Abdulkareem (Partner, Riyadh), Sahel Mughal (Senior, Associate, Riyadh), Chee Kwan Kim (Counsel, Seoul), Dan Park (Associate, Seoul) and Jean-Francois Seguin (Associate, Riyadh).
In 2015, Clifford Chance celebrates 40 years of operations in the Middle East since opening its first office in Sharjah in 1975. Over the past four decades the Firm has expanded from a single office to having a strong presence in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and Riyadh with more than 120 permanently based lawyers in the region who are fully integrated into the Firm’s international network of 36 offices in 26 countries.