The Law Office of Salman M. Al-Sudairi in association with Latham & Watkins has advised the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) on its SAR5.6 billion ($1.5 billion) rights issue, one of the largest rights issues ever in the Middle East.

The issuance was made at an offer price of SAR23 per share, and the proceeds are expected to be used to fund Ma’aden’s phosphate and aluminium operations.

The Latham team was led by Riyadh partner Salman Al-Sudairi, with support from partner Sami Al-Louzi (Riyadh/ Dubai), counsel Omar Elsayed (Riyadh) and associates Ibrahim Soumrany, Lee Irvine (Dubai), Jonathan Pride (New York) and Raya Al-Khatib (Riyadh). The team also worked closely with HSBC Saudi Arabia, the financial adviser and lead manager of the transaction.

This rights issue is one of the few under the new tradable rights framework in the kingdom.

The issue has seen a 26.3 percent increase in Ma’aden’s share capital, which now stands at more than SAR11.5 billion.