Veolia-led consortium is taking the waste out of Al Ruwais: A consortium comprising French waste and water management company Veolia, ADQ, and Saudi investment powerhouse Vision Invest has reached financial close on the acquisition of two hazardous industrial waste treatments plants in the UAE’s Al Ruwais Industrial City, according to a statement. Veolia will hold a 50.1% stake in the operating company, with Vision Invest and ADQ owning an equal share of 24.95% each. The parties signed the conditional agreement for the transaction last November.

What we know: The Veolia-led consortium will treat the hazardous industrial waste of the emirate’s biggest industrial complex in Al Ruwais, which is home to the region’s biggest oil refinery, the statement said. The waste treatment plants will have an annual capacity of nearly 70k tons. They will focus on maximizing the resource recovery of water and oil from the hazardous waste generated by the complex to reuse them in nearby industrial plants. It also plans to expand the existing solar farm in the area to manufacture more locally sourced green energy.

Where the funds are coming from: The acquisition was financed through a mix of equity and long-term non-recourse project finance debt with completion contingent to interest rate hedges agreed on in November, according to the statement. Natixis and Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) acted as the lead mandated lead arrangers and structuring banks, while JP Morgan and Natixis acted as the contingent hedge and hedge providers.

IN OTHER VEOLIA NEWS- Veolia’s subsidiary SIDEM has been tapped to lead a consortium tasked with the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the AED 2.3 bn low-carbon Mirfa 2 Reverse Osmosis (M2 RO) desalination plant, according to a statement (pdf). The plant — commissioned by the UAE’s state-owned Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and French utility company Engie — will hold a production capacity of 550k cubic meters per day of potable water. This will make it the third largest RO desalination facility in the country, the statement notes. The contract is set to represent revenue of EUR 300 mn for Veolia, it added.