Almar Water Solutions to acquire Mubadala Infrastructure Partners’ investment in Muharraq Sewage Treatment Plant in Bahrain

• 100,000 cubic meters per day wastewater treatment plant and a sewer conveyance system in Bahrain
• This acquisition enhances the company’s portfolio of wastewater and reuse assets

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – 9 May 2019

Almar Water Solutions (“Almar”), a leading water company in the region, announced that it has completed the acquisition of a Sewage Treatment Plant investment in Muharraq STP Company BSC (“MSC”) from Mubadala Infrastructure Partners (“MIP”), an emerging markets infrastructure fund manager.

MSC has a 29-year concession to build, own and operate (“BOO”) a 100,000 cubic meters per day state of the art wastewater treatment plant and a sewer conveyance system in the Muharraq catchment area of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The conveyance system includes the first 16.5 km deep gravity sewer trunk pipeline in the GCC region and a wastewater collection network. The concession was signed with the Ministry of Works in 2011 and the facility commenced operations in 2014. According to the World Health Organization, 40%[1] of wastewater in the MENA region goes untreated making this a critical sector for environmental sustainability. The project was developed in partnership with Samsung Engineering Ltd of Korea and United Utilities International Ltd of the United Kingdom.

Carlos Cosin, Chief Executive Officer of Almar said: “This investment follows our strategy to own and operate water assets in the region and beyond”. This acquisition increases the company’s portfolio of wastewater and reuse assets, reinforcing its activity. This acquisition also provides us with an exceptional opportunity to contribute to the water sector’s development in Bahrain and all GCC countries. Recently Almar Water Solutions, through its parent-company Abdul Latif Jameel, has been awarded a P3 contract to develop a desalination plant in the city of Shuqaiq, on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. The large-scale plant will have a capacity of 450,000 cubic meters per day, guaranteeing reliable drinking water to over 1.8 million citizens during 25 years. Almar Water Solutions has also recently been awarded another P3 contract to develop Kenya’s first large-scale desalination plant. The project will be located in the North Mainland zone in the county of Mombasa and will have a capacity of 100,000 cubic meters per day, supplying drinking water to over a million people. The plant will be managed and operated for 25 years until it is handed over.

Philip K. Haddad, Managing Partner of MIP commented on the transaction: “Water remains an important focus of our investment strategy. We are proud to have been part of the development and operations of MSC on behalf of our investors. We will continue to focus on investing in differentiated and impactful businesses in key infrastructure sectors such as energy, transportation, social infrastructure and water in emerging markets.” MIP recently sold its investments in Abu Dhabi Ports Operating Company PJSC – Abu Dhabi Terminals and MIP Campus 1, a social infrastructure PPP platform in higher education in Abu Dhabi from its regional flagship fund MIP I. The firm is currently raising its successor fund MIP II with commitments from regional and international investors.

Shearman & Sterling acted as legal advisors to MIP on this transaction. KPMG and Gowling acted as financial and legal advisors, respectively, to Almar Water Solutions.