Shearman & Sterling advised project sponsor Egyptian-listed private equity firm Citadel Capital S.A.E and project company Egyptian Refining Company (Takrir) on the US$3.5 billion financing for the redevelopment of its refinery at Mostorod, near Cairo. The financing, which was signed today, is the largest-ever project financing in Africa.
This will be the first Egyptian refinery to produce European-grade diesel and IATA-grade jet fuel and to comply with World Bank and EU environmental standards. As an import substitution project it is strategically significant to Egypt as the country seeks to make the best use of its natural resources. The project will also reduce sulphur/SO2 emissions by 186,000 tonnes per year.
Shareholders in Egyptian Refining Company (Takrir) include the International Finance Corporation and Egyptian General Petroleum Company as well as Citadel Capital S.A.E.
The complex multi-source limited recourse financing involved senior debt tranches from Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Nippon Export Investment Insurance, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the European Investment Bank, African Development Bank and a syndicate of commercial banks as well as mezzanine loans from Mitsui & Co and African Development Bank.
The Shearman & Sterling team of lawyers in the firm’s London and Abu Dhabi offices was led by project development and finance partner Tim Pick supported by partner Kenneth MacRitchie, counsel Brian Clayton and associates Suzanne Szczetnikowicz, Christopher Chapman, Christy Wong, Natasha Kirby, Elena Tzvetinova, Anna Duncan, Brendan Hundt and Victoria McGie and trainees Sedina Aidam and Camilla Hunter. Tax advice was provided by associate James Leslie.
Shearman & Sterling already has a considerable track record of advising in Egypt, spanning the refinancing of Egypt’s largest private power plants, the $948 million financing of the EMethanex methanol plant in the Nile Delta and the development and financing of the Egyptian LNG project.
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