About

With 45 power generation plants and a near monopoly on the generation, transmission and distribution of electric power in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) enjoys advantages few power companies can dream of. Tough market conditions have left no one untroubled, but SEC, the largest utility company in the Middle East and North Africa region, and one of the largest globally, has turned a crisis into an opportunity by looking to expand its assets, turning to innovative capital raising approaches to ensure its strength continues undiminished. The legal team, led by senior vice president of legal affairs Faisal Bin Mohammed Al-Lazzam, has been closely involved in a number of these fundraising initiatives, with its work on SEC’s leading capital markets transactions attracting particular attention. These have included SEC’s $3.75bn Sukuk issuance in 2012 – the first international 30 year Sukuk by any issuer – and its $1.2bn Sukuk issue in 2014. In August this year the team worked on adding over $2bn to its revolving credit facilities, a deal that sources say involved a number of complex issues and on which the legal team excelled. Through its subsidiary – the Saudi Electricity Company for Projects Development (SECPD) – SEC is playing an increasingly important role in helping to diversify the Kingdom’s economic base, allowing for the creation of new industries by extending power transmission facilities into previously untouched regions. The role of Faisal Bin Mohammed Al-Lazzam and his team in promoting these initiatives was praised widely.