Global law firm Clifford Chance has acted as issuer’s counsel to ADES Holding Company on its SAR 4.6 billion (approx. US$1.2 billion) landmark IPO with an implied market capitalization at listing of SAR 15.2 billion (approx. US$ 4.1 billion), set to mark the largest IPO in the MENA region this year. The IPO was completed on October 11, 2023 with the listing of the shares of ADES on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul).
The IPO included an international institutional investor tranche under Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933. Overall, domestically and internationally, the IPO raised more than 90% of the total IPO offer volume from institutional investors and the remaining offer volume from Saudi retail investors. The IPO order book was 62.7 times oversubscribed, with a total demand of SAR 286.9 billion (approx. US$ 76.5 billion).
ADES is a leading oil and gas drilling services provider in the MENA region with global-scale operations across seven countries: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and India. ADES’s portfolio of services primarily includes onshore and offshore contract drilling and workover services, which include maintenance, repair, and enhancement of oil production.
A strong cross-border team of lawyers from both Clifford Chance and AS&H Clifford Chance advised on this transaction.
The Clifford Chance Frankfurt team was led by partner George Hacket, supported by counsel Axel Wittmann, senior associate Andrei Manea and associate Maks Mencin.
The AS&H Clifford Chance team was led by partners Mansoor Alhagbani (Head of the Capital Markets & Financial Regulatory) and Omar Rashid. Senior associate Rakan Kawar and associate Jomana Alkathiri were the lead associates and were supported by associates Abdulrahman Alkhudairy, Aljazi Alhagbani, Ibrahim Al-Mansour, Aljoahra Bin Ahmed, Noura Alassaf, and Yara Abushanan (all Riyadh-based).
Clifford Chance and AS&H Clifford Chance have an exceptionally strong track record of advising on some of the largest, most innovative and most complex deals in the Middle East. Together, we have advised on the following notable equity capital markets transactions in the Kingdom: ACWA Power on its IPO; NCB Capital on its underwriting and sub-underwriting arrangements in relation to Saudi Aramco’s US$25.6 billion IPO (Equity Deal of the Year – IFLR Middle East Awards 2020); the underwriters, Jadwa Investment and Riyad Capital, on Sulaiman Al-Habib’s IPO – the first IPO in Saudi Arabia’s main market in 2020 and healthcare sector since 2016; the underwriters on Arabian Centres Company’s IPO – the first ever IPO in the Kingdom with a full international offering, including a Rule 144A offering (Equity Deal of the Year – IFLR Middle East Awards 2019); Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Company on its SAR 3.78 billion (approx. US$1 billion) landmark IPO and SAR 12.6 billion (approx. US$3.36 billion) listing on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul), marking the biggest exchange IPO since Euronext went public in 2014; and Marafiq on its SAR 3.36 billion (approx. US$900 million) landmark IPO and SAR 11.5 billion (approx. US$3.1 billion) listing on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul).
