Gibson Dunn and Slaughter and May advised BlackRock on its acquisition of an undisclosed minority stake in the Saudi Bahrain Pipeline Company (SBPC) from Bapco Energies, an energy company owned by the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Gibson Dunn advised on the financing aspects of the deal, whilst Slaughters provided M&A advice.
SBPC owns a portion of the 112km pipeline supplying crude oil from Saudi Aramco to Bapco Refining, the national refinery of Bahrain and a subsidiary of Bapco Energies.
Under the terms of the transaction, the BlackRock infrastructure fund has taken a minority stake in SBPC, while Bapco Energies retained majority ownership and governance over the company.
While financial details were not disclosed, the proceeds from the transaction will be used to strengthen Bapco Energies’ capital, according to a statement.
Bapco Energies is supporting the Kingdom of Bahrain to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, with a commitment to investing in decarbonisation projects across government-owned energy and utility businesses. The deal represents the first time Bapco Energies has monitised energy assets.
The Gibson Dunn team advising BlackRock on financing aspects of the deal was led by London partner Kavita Davis.
The Slaughter and May team comprised partners Robin Ogle, Oliver Moir, and Gareth Miles, all based in London.
