Cranmore Partners

Rakiza Fund I is pleased to announce the closing of a USD 300 million subscription line facility with a consortium of leading international and regional banks, including Gulf International Bank, MUFG, and Standard Chartered. This facility enhances liquidity and streamlines the capital call process for our investors, and will enable the Fund to more efficiently deploy capital in attractive greenfield and brownfield infrastructure projects within the region. Cranmore Partners acted as Rakiza's financial advisor on this transaction. Muneer Al-Muneeri, Chairman of Oman Infrastructure Fund (Rakiza), said: “We’re delighted to have successfully closed on this first-of-a-kind subscription line facility for an infrastructure fund in the MENA region with the support of GIB B.S.C., MUFG, and Standard Chartered. This facility provides us with a strong competitive advantage, enabling us to rapidly deploy into compelling infrastructure investment opportunities within the region, creating value for our investors and stakeholders.” Rakiza Fund I is committed to investing across a range of infrastructure assets in Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The successful financial close of this facility underscores and further contributes to Rakiza Fund I’s continued success in investments in a diverse range of public private partnership (PPP) and infrastructure assets. #Infrastructure #Investment #KSA #Oman

Today, we achieved the successful financial closing of the 1.5 gigawatt (GW) AC Al Ajban Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Producer (IPP) project in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Following a successful bid submission, the project company, owned by EDF Renewables Middle East and Korea Western Power Co., Ltd. (20% stake each) as lead members and Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) as local shareholder (60% stake), signed a 30-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC). The project company will design, finance, build, and operate the plant. Othman Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC, said: “Al Ajban Solar PV is a further example of EWEC’s industry leading strategic advancement of world-leading solar power projects, and stewardship of the UAE’s energy transition. Solar power is one of the most cost-effective and low-carbon-intensive solutions for electricity generation, and we are rapidly commissioning and deploying new utility-scale solar power projects, to enable the generation of 7.5GW of solar PV by 2030, in addition to projects in support of UAE’s next-generation energy infrastructure. The financial close of Al Ajban Solar PV is a further milestone in this key project that will enable our decarbonisation of the UAE’s energy sector.” #RenewableEnergy #TodayForTomorrow #SolarPower #Sustainability #UAE #WUC

History was in the making last month in the power sector in Saudi Arabia. Principal Buyer | Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC), the procurer and single buyer of power in the Kingdom, reached financial close near-simultaneously on four 1,800MW gas-fired independent power projects, Taiba I and II and Qassim I and II (the Projects), representing total project costs of c USD 8bn. The culmination of a c. 2 year process, the Projects, totalling 7,200MW, are the inaugural CCGT IPPs procured by SPPC. Cranmore Partners acted as sole and exclusive financial adviser to SPPC on this journey, cementing our position as the leading procurement adviser for first of a kind transactions, especially in support of energy transition in the GCC and globally. The projects will be carbon-capture ready and will connect into the nationwide CO2 network in planning in the Kingdom. They have been developed with advanced class turbines and will significantly decrease emissions vs older thermal power generation they will progressively replace, while complementing intermittent renewables through their flexible operations. The Projects will hence be instrumental in accelerating the deployment of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative goals, to ensure reliability and security of energy supply, supply chain localisation, and promotion of carbon capture technologies. The Projects were awarded as follows: ·      Taiba I and Qassim I IPPs – Saudi Electricity Company and ACWA Power ·      Taiba II and Qassim II IPPs – Consortium of Al Jomaih Energy and Water Co. Ltd. (JENWA), Ajlan & Bros Group, Buhur for Investment Company, and EDF. We congratulate SPPC and thank them for their continued trust. We also congratulate the winning bidders and the participating banks on this landmark achievement. Richa Prasad Puroo Soni Aditya Gupta Yash Garg Ashutosh Gupta #KSAVision2030 #energytransition #gasfiredIPP #carboncapture

Delighted to join colleagues and counterparts at the EMEAFinance awards dinner in London recently. Cranmore Partners was for the first time recognised by EMEAFinance as the leading financial adviser in the Middle East, for the exceptional results our team has achieved in 2023. In addition to winning the “Best Project Fİnance Adviser in the Middle East” award, several transactions were also awarded Deal of the Year 2023: - EDF Renewables Middle East Korea Western Power Co., Ltd. Manah I IPP as Middle East Solar Deal of the Year; - Mowah CO. Albawani | البواني Lamar Jafurah Desalination and Water Transmission as Middle East Water Deal of the Year; and - Tamasuk Saudi Arabian Trading & Construction Co. - SATCO Almajal Alarabi Holding Neom Construction Villages as Middle East Real Eatate Deal of the Year. We thank EMEAFinance for this recognition, as well as our clients and colleagues who made such achievements possible. #winningteam #projectfinance

Cranmore Partners Executive Directors Dan Bennellick and Andrew Eckhardt, CFA have been attending Intersolar Munich. As Cranmore builds upon its market leadership on renewables and energy transition financial advisory in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia, which we are now rolling out in Europe, and on offshore wind globally, this is a unique opportunity to meet and compare notes. Do reach out to discuss how Cranmore may be able to support on your decarbonisation journey. #intersolar #renewables #energytransition #energytransitionfinance #infrastructurefinance https://lnkd.in/d9g5a3U7

Delighted to see that, in addition to Cranmore being nominated for the fourth year in a row in the MENA Financial Adviser of the Year category, transactions closed by Cranmore Partners in 2023 won four Deal of the Year awards at IJGlobal: - Manah I Solar IPP in Oman, MENA Renewable Deal of the Year; - Neom Construction Villages, MENA Alternative Infrastructure Deal of the Year; - Dewa VI Solar IPP, MENA Combined Solar Renewable Deal of the Year; and - Samarkand, Jizzakh and Sherabad Solar IPPs, Asia Pacific Portfolio Financing Deal of the Year. Thank you once more, of course to our clients' continued trust, and to my colleagues' relentless efforts in achieving this outcome. #winningteam

As we prepare to attend the IJ Global MENA Awards ceremony tonight, with Cranmore Partners nominated for MENA Financial Advisor of the Year, we take this opportunity to remember our key 2023 milestones, -       The closing of the 300 MW Saad solar PV IPP in KSA, the first SPPC / REPDO round 3 IPP to close, having supported Jinko Power Technology Co., Ltd. Power since pre-bid; -       The closing of two Neom Construction Village concessions, for the Tamasuk / Almajal Alarabi Holding and Tamasuk/ Saudi Arabian Trading & Construction Co. - SATCO consortia respectively; -       The closing of six green hydrogen concessions in Oman, advising Hydrom; -       The closing of the Samarkand, Jizakh and Sherabad solar PV IPPs in Uzbekistan, representing a total of 897MW, having advised Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) since pre-bid; -       The closing of the Jafurah desalination and water transmission project, tendered by aramco, representing a USD 775m investment, in support of Mowah CO., Albawani | البواني and Lamar Holding; -       The closing of the 500MW Manah 1 IPP solar PV IPP, having supported EDF Renewables Middle East and KOWEPO since pre-bid; -       The closing of Shuweihat 4 IWP in the UAE, having supported GS Inima Environment since pre-bid. We could not be more grateful for the continued trust of our clients that made this possible. And of course a big thank you to the Cranmore colleagues, whose relentless hard work has been key. #infrastructurefinance #projectfinance #winningteam #industryawards

Cranmore Partners is delighted to have supported Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) as the sole and exclusive financial adviser on the bidding, award, and successful financial close of DEWA VI IPP, the 1,800MW phase VI of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park (the "Project") in Dubai, UAE. The USD1.5bn project has been financed through a mix of regional (ADIB, CBD, ADCB, Warba and FAB) and international (SCB and HSBC) banks. The SPV will be 60% owned by Dubai Electricity & Water Authority - DEWA and 40% by Masdar. The 1,800MW sixth phase of the solar park will see the total production capacity increase to 4,660MW by 2026. DEWA will have around 27% of the generation mix sourced from clean energy sources by 2030. In addition, the Project has achieved the lowest Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE) of USc1.6215 / kWh per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the Solar Park. We thank Masdar for its continued trust, and congratulate them, DEWA and the banks on this landmark achievement. This transaction further cements the leadership of Cranmore in the renewable IPP financial advisory space in the Middle East and Central Asia. Dan Bennellick Rashi Bablani Umang Agarwal Himanshu Broota, CFA CA Anurag Sharma #energytransition #solarenergy #dubainetzero #masdar #dewa

Delighted to attend the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh tomorrow. And also delighted to introduce Fazel Moosa, joining the Cranmore Partners family as an Executive Director based in Riyadh. Fazel and I have known each other for over 15 years. He is among the top project finance and infrastructure talent out of South Africa, and has been dedicating himself to cross-border and local transactions in the Kingdom over the last two years. Fazel will be joining me at the Forum as well. And he brings a wealth of experience on power, renewables, but also, importantly, industrials and mining. if you would like to discuss how Cranmore Partners can help on your minute journey, especially in support of energy transition, please reach out. https://lnkd.in/d5SsbkG9