International law firm Latham & Watkins advised Arab Petroleum Investments Corp (APICORP) on its 2.5 billion riyals ($666 million) sharia-compliant financing facility in February. This is the first such financing by Apicorp, and will be used to retain and increase its medium-term funding.

The Latham & Watkins team in Riyadh was led by partner Mohammed Al-Sheikh with associate Harjaskaran Rai. The Riyad Bank, the Al Rajhi Bank, the Banque Saudi Fransi, and the Saudi British Bank acted as lead arrangers on the three-year facility and subscribed to it fully.

The Islamic financing facility used a murabaha structure, which involves the purchase of an item which in turn is sold to the customer at a higher price, in compliance with Islam’s ban on charging interest.

Apicorp, a development bank, is jointly owned by the ten member states of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). Its biggest shareholders are the Saudi, United Arab Emirates and Kuwaiti governments, which each holding a 17 percent stake in the bank. ALB

Shaheen Pasha is Middle East Editor at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.

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