Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) and the consortium led by the Metito Group and comprising the companies: Metito, Mowah, and Orascom Construction confirmed the successful financial closing of the Kingdom’s first independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) to be awarded to the private sector under the Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) concession model with a tenor of 25 years, in Dammam West. The project is worth US$ 245 million with the investment made up of a combination of equity and debt.

The financial close of this first of its kind project comes in spite of the global Covid-19 pandemic, which has frozen many large-scale projects around the world. The Dammam ISTP has a designed capacity of 350,000 cubic meters per day and an initial capacity of 200,000 cubic meters per day and will serve the western region of Dammam.

The Consortium scope of work covers the entire investment and includes the EPC and O&M which will be executed by a wholly-owned Saudi-based company established by the Consortium to serve the project – the Dammam West Company for Water.

The total project costs approx. US$ 245 million, with funding sourced from a combination of senior project finance loans in addition to equity contributions from shareholders. Non-recourse project financing is provided by a group of local and international banks, including The National Commercial Bank (NCB), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Europe Limited (SMBC), and Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP), worth a total of US$ 160 million.

Following is a list of advisors for the transaction:

• Project Sponsors International Legal Advisors: Covington & Burling LLP
• Project Sponsors Local Legal Advisors: Hatem Abbas Ghazzawi & Co
• Project Sponsors Financial Advisor: Synergy Consulting
• Project Sponsors Insurance Advisor: Willis Towers Watson
• Lenders International Legal Advisors: Allen & Overy LLP
• Lenders Local Legal Advisors: Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mulla
• Lenders Insurance Advisor: INDECS Consulting Limited
• Lenders Technical Advisor: ILF & Partners Engineering