King & Spalding advised the shareholders of Dalma Energy LLC (Dalma) on the closing of the transfer of its Omani and Saudi Arabian businesses to KCA Deutag (KCAD). The combined enterprise value of the enlarged group is $2.66 billion.

As a result of this acquisition KCAD is now one of the largest owners and operators of drilling rigs in the Middle East, with 46 land rigs in the region out of a total of 83 rigs owned and operated by KCAD globally. As part of the transaction, the shareholders of Dalma received a 22.28% shareholding in the UK parent company of the enlarged KCAD Group, making them the third biggest shareholder in the group. The shareholders of Dalma continue to own and operate their similar business in Algeria which was carved out of the transaction.

The King & Spalding team was led by Dubai-based partners Jawad Ali and Simon Rahimzada with assistance from lead finance counsel Asal Saghari and lead corporate associate Melissa Chan.

The King & Spalding team also included a number of other corporate, finance, capital markets, tax and employment & benefits partners, counsel and associates from Dubai, Riyadh and London including Ilan Kotkis (Corporate, London office), Daniel Friel (Tax, London office), Jules Quinn (Employment & Benefits, London office), Rizwan Kanji (Debt Capital Markets, Dubai office), Kelly Nash (Corporate, London office), Kim Roberts (Employment & Benefits, London office), Hamed Afzal (Debt Capital Markets, Dubai office), Mohammad Al Ammar (Corporate and Regulatory, Riyadh office), Ruslan Sulaimanov (Corporate, Dubai office), Bader Al Ammar (Corporate and Regulatory, Riyadh office), Hamzeh Al Rasheed (Corporate, Dubai office) and Sherif Saleh (Corporate, Dubai office).