Hassan Radhi, Norton Rose, Ashurst and Shearman Sterling have advised on the first-ever project to be procured by the government of Bahrain through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The project – Bahrain’s first wastewater PPP treatment facility – has estimated capital expenditure of $250 million and a 27-year lease on plant operations.

In addition to acting for Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance on all aspects of the financial close, Norton Rose has also advised the ministry in the lead up to its National Privatisation Strategy Plan for the Sanitary Engineering Affairs Department – as part of Bahrain’s overall privatisation strategy and its economic vision for 2030.

Leading the Norton Rose team, partner Joanne Emerson-Taqi said the reputation of Bahrain as a viable target for significant foreign investment in the infrastructure sector was highlighted with the financial completion of the project. “Having now achieved financial close, the project represents a clear place marker for similar pathfinder projects both in Bahrain and within the region,” Emerson-Taqi said.

Apart from the energy sector, the PPP model in Bahrain (and the acceptance of it) is in its infancy, Emerson-Taqi said. “The Ministry of Works and the Government of Bahrain will be looking closely at the progress of the Muharraq PPP Project to determine whether PPP is a suitable model for Bahrain for future projects,” she said. “A number of other ministries are currently involved in PPP procurement in different sectors, including the Ministry of Housing (the Bahrain Social Housing PPP Project) and the Ministry of Municipalities and Agriculture (the Waste to Energy PPP project).”

According to market watchers, infrastructure deal flows are reasonably strong in the MENA region – with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar demonstrating ambition in their infrastructure development strategies. “We are also seeing increasing levels of infrastructure activity in a number of emerging economies such as Jordan,” Emerson-Taqi said.

Norton Rose won the deal through a competitive bid process conducted by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Works in accordance to the relevant tender and public procurement laws and regulations of Bahrain.

HSBC was financial adviser to the Bahrain ministry of finance and Fichtner was technical adviser on this project.ALB

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• Bahrain: state of emergency declared, lawyers evacuated (17 Mar 2011)