Pinsent Masons advises on $85m Taif independent sewage treatment plant in Saudi Arabia

The project, which was funded via Islamic financing facilities, is third wastewater project to be procured under a public private partnership by the Saudi Water Partnerships Company (SWPC) and is part of $2 billion program of water and wastewater projects in Saudi launched in 2018.

The Pinsent Masons team led by Partner Gurmeet Kaur advised the client on all aspects of the project documents, all construction documents and Islamic financing documents. The Taif project involves the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a new wastewater treatment plant with an ultimate treatment capacity of up to 270,000 m3/day. The ISTP will be located near the city of Taif in the Mecca province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The project is developed under a long-term build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) structure which is a key part of the Kingdom’s 2030 vision for increasing public private partnerships in the infrastructure sector.

The parties signed the 25 year sewage treatment agreement in November last year and the Project is expected to achieve commercial operations in the third quarter of 2022. Commenting on the deal, Gurmeet Kaur, Partner, Pinsent Masons said: “Reaching financial close on this transaction demonstrates the robustness and resilience of the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) program in Saudi Arabia during the pandemic and showcases SWPC's commitment to its infrastructure pipeline and its vision for driving PPP’s in the Kingdom, working in partnerships with the private sector, against the background of a global pandemic."

Mohammed Halawani, CEO, International Water Distribution Company, added: “The Taif ISTP Project is a significant project for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, being the third public private partnerships in the wastewater sector launched by the Saudi Water Partnerships Company. The Pinsent Masons team (Dubai, Singapore and Riyadh), led by Partner Gurmeet Kaur, did an incredible job representing the sponsors throughout the Project. The deal was complicated and delayed due to COVID-19 and other challenges and the Pinsent Masons team worked very hard, thinking ‘outside the box’ and worked with us through all the challenges to successfully achieve Financial Close of the Project.”

The Pinsent Masons and AlSabhan & AlAjaji team comprised the Dubai, Singapore and Riyadh offices and core team members are Gurmeet Kaur, David Platt, Ibrahim Alajaji, Abdullah AlGowais, Matthew Dyson, Priya Dalal, Bendicte Tse and Rita Allan.