Latham & Watkins and The Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi Advise on the Update of Saudi Aramco’s GMTN Programme and US$8 Billion Notes Issuance
Latham & Watkins and the Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have advised the arrangers and dealers in relation to Saudi Arabian Oil Company’s (Saudi Aramco) update of its Global Medium Term Note Programme (the Programme), and the managers in relation to the issuance of US$8 billion notes (the Notes) thereunder. The issuance represents the largest emerging markets corporate debt offering to date this year. The Notes were issued across five tranches: US$500 million 1.250% Notes due 2023, US$1 billion 1.625% Notes due 2025, US$2 billion 2.250% Notes due 2030, US$2.25 billion 3.250% Notes due 2050, and US$2.25 billion 3.500% Notes due 2070.
The Programme and Notes have been rated A1 by Moody’s and A+ by Fitch, and were listed on the Regulated Market of the London Stock Exchange. The Notes were offered to investors in the United States in reliance on Rule 144A under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act) and to non-US investors outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act.
J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley acted as Programme arrangers and dealers as well as active joint bookrunners in respect of the issuance; Citigroup, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC, and NCB Capital acted as Programme dealers as well as active joint bookrunners in respect of the issuance, and BNP Paribas, BOC International, BofA Securities, Crédit Agricole CIB, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC Nikko, and Société Générale acted as passive joint bookrunners in respect of the issuance.
Latham advised on non-Saudi law matters with a team led by London partner Craig Nethercott, Dubai partner Nomaan Raja, and Washington, D.C. partner Alex Cohen, with Dubai counsel Basil Al-Jafari and associate Matt Oliver, London associate Neha Siddiqui, and Singapore associate Priyanka Mehta. New York partner Bora Bozkurt with associate Lea Li advised on US tax matters.
The Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi advised on Saudi law matters, with a team led by Principal Salman M. Al-Sudairi with counsel Amar Meher and associate Mashal Al-Assaf.