Saudi Aramco recently closed the lease and leaseback transaction on its gas pipeline network (“Project Saturn”). As part of the transaction, the Project Company, will lease usage rights in Saudi Aramco’s gas pipelines network and lease them back to Aramco for a 20-year period. In return, the Project Company will receive a tariff payable by Saudi Aramco for the gas products that will flow through the network, backed by minimum commitments on throughput. Saudi Aramco will hold a 51% majority stake in the Project Company and sell a 49% stake to investors led by BlackRock and Hassana.
Clients: Keppel Infrastructure Trust
Enterprise Value: USD 15.5bn
Tribe Role: Debt advisor to bidder and consortium member
Financial Close: February 2022
Tribe acted as debt advisor to Keppel Infrastructure Trust in respect of their bid to Saudi Aramco and subsequently in respect of their participation in the consortium formed by Blackrock.
Tribe’s mandate included:
- Detailed review of the initial stapled financing package provided by Saudi Aramco from a commercial and financial perspective;
- Assessment of the suitability of various other debt market and funding instruments applicable;
- Identification of financing risks and mitigations from the Investor’s perspective;
- Review of the hedging structure proposed and recommendations;
- Review and commentary on refinancing risks and possibilities;
- Review and benchmarking of the proposed bond market refinancing assumptions;
- Review and commentary on the financial model with sensitivity analysis;
- Review and commentary on the full form financing documentation; and
- Inputs to the Transaction Documents from a commercial and financial perspective.