King & Spalding Wins Three IFLR Middle East Awards for Landmark Saudi Arabian Work

DUBAI, October 18, 2023 — IFLR has named King & Spalding its Middle East Restructuring Team of the Year, and awarded it both Middle East Restructuring Deal and Project Finance Deal of the Year accolades, for the firm’s central role in pathfinder deals in Saudi Arabia. The recognition at the IFLR Middle East Awards 2023 follows the recent news that the firm has obtained a foreign law license from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Justice, becoming one of the first international law firms to have achieved this milestone.

The Restructuring Team of the Year award was given to the firm for its representation of Azmeel Contracting Company and Arkad Engineering & Construction Company (leading construction and EPC contractors respectively in Saudi Arabia) in connection with an innovative perpetual sukuk structure used to restructure the businesses of both Azmeel and Arkad, in addition to the firm’s representation of debtors and creditors in the steel, shipping, aerospace and healthcare sectors to restructure debt, amounting to SAR15 bn (US$4.1bn) in the aggregate.

In addition to the Restructuring Team of the Year award, the Azmeel matter was also named Restructuring Deal of the Year at the awards. Many of the restructuring mandates worked on by the Restructuring Team were ground breaking, implementing structures under the Saudi Arabia Bankruptcy Law 2018, that were the first of their kind.

King & Spalding also advised NEOM on the IFLR Middle East Project Finance Deal of the Year, a US$8.4bn world-first green hydrogen and green ammonia megaproject undertaken in joint venture with ACWA Power and Air Products. The deal is the world’s first green hydrogen and green ammonia export project to sign offtake and EPC agreements, and achieved financial close on a debt package with 23 banks and export credit agencies on May 22, 2023.

Partners and counsel from the firm’s Middle East offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh who worked on the award-winning projects included Nabil A. Issa, Dan Feldman, Zaid Al-Farisi, Michael Rainey, Brendan Hundt and Asal Saghari.