Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) on its share purchase agreement with Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) under which Saudi Aramco will acquire a 50 percent equity interest, valued at approximately US$7 billion, in a joint venture with Petronas to develop the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in the southern Malaysian state of Johor.

The share purchase agreement was signed on February 28, 2017. Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and execution of associated agreements.

"Saudi Aramco's participation in this groundbreaking project reinforces its commitment to growth in what is a key export market – South East Asia," said Singapore-based White & Case partner Steve Payne, head of the firm's South East Asia energy practice.

Scheduled to start up in 2019, the RAPID project comprises a refinery, cracker and integrated petrochemical complex. It will have the capacity to process 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produce Euro 5 gasoline and diesel and other refined products as well as feedstock for the production of 3.5 million tons of petrochemical products annually. The RAPID project is part of Petronas' Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC), which includes associated facilities such as a co-generation plant, an LNG re-gasification terminal, a raw water supply project, a deep water terminal and centralized and shared utility facilities.

White & Case has advised Saudi Aramco on several similar large scale transactions, including, most recently, its proposed joint venture with Pertamina to upgrade and expand the Cilacap refinery in Indonesia as part of Pertamina's Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP). White & Case has represented Saudi Aramco and its predecessor company, the Arabian American Oil Company, for more than half a century.

The Saudi Aramco legal team was led by William Montjoy. The White & Case team which advised on the transaction was led by partners Steve Payne (Singapore) and Michael Watson (Abu Dhabi), and included partners Wendell Maddrey, Jean Shimotake (both New York), Luke Robottom (Abu Dhabi), Paul Harrison (Tokyo) and Pontus Lindfelt (Brussels), local partner Jon Bowden (Singapore) and associates Yasuhiro (Taai) Izushima, Yon Tzan Jong, Ee Lynn Tan, Audrey Lim (all Singapore), Yasser Riad, Daniel Solomon, Claire Janvier (all Abu Dhabi), Brandon Freeman (New York), Alex Claydon (Tokyo), Matteo Giangaspero and Sophie Sahlin (both Brussels).