The pool of financiers includes Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Korea Development Bank, Qatar National Bank, and CITIC Holding IF Group. The project, to be developed in Saudi Arabia, will be one of the largest complex industrial water reuse plants in the Middle East.
The Admiral Industrial Wastewater Treatment & Reuse Project (IWWTP), located in Jubail Industrial City 2, Saudi Arabia, one of the largest complex industrial water reuse facilities in the Middle East with an annual treatment capacity of approximately 8.8 million cubic meters, has secured a $500 million senior secured financing package from a pool of lenders including First Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Korea Development Bank, Qatar National Bank (see the press release here), and CITIC Holding IF Group LLC (see the press release here). The latter is an independent investment firm headquartered in Delaware, USA, whose shareholders include a subsidiary of the Chinese CITIC Group, a global infrastructure investor.
The project, currently under construction, is sponsored by a consortium formed under the Aqua Renew Company special purpose vehicle, in which the Marafiq Group, listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange, holds a 40% stake, Veolia Middle East a 35% stake, and Lamar Arabia Energy a 25%.
Last September, the consortium signed a 30-year concession agreement with Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP) for the treatment and reuse of industrial wastewater generated by the Amiral plant (see the press release from that time).
The plant will serve the Amiral petrochemical complex and the broader Jubail downstream industrial district. The project reached financial close in early 2026 and benefits from strategic integration with Jubail Industrial City 2, contracted utility-grade revenues, structural industrial demand, and the strength of its EPC and O&M counterparties. and full regulatory alignment with Saudi Vision 2030.
CITIC’s participation, which was advised on the transaction by the Italian-British law firm Avocom Law Firm LLP, is part of a non-recourse project finance structure with a dedicated corporate vehicle. CITIC’s internal assessment places the transaction in an investment-grade equivalent category “A.” The Amiral IWWTP also falls within CITIC’s ESG framework and the Sustainable Infrastructure – Environmental Utilities classification, contributing to the circularity of water resources, the reduction of primary water withdrawals, and the strengthening of environmental compliance in petrochemical processes.
On the subject of infrastructure, last September 2025, CITIC announced the signing of a $1.8 billion co-financing agreement to support the construction of a 972 km railway line in Gabon that will connect the Bélinga mining area to the future deep-water port of Mayumba, which will require a total investment estimated at over $10 billion (see a previous BeBeez International article here). The railway will be built by a consortium of investors, including Thelo Group, an investment firm specializing in transportation and financial services in sub-Saharan Africa, founded by Chairman and CEO Ronnie Ntuli; and EGAAD (Egyptian African Arab Co. for Development), a consortium that brings together major business groups, primarily Egyptian, to invest and develop projects in various sectors in African countries, led by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris and which includes major construction companies such as Orascom Construction.
Among CITIC’s latest deals, last September it signed an agreement to invest between 180 and 200 million euros in the development of the African Confederation of 7-A-Side Football (CAF7), an organization founded in 2025 with the aim of promoting this sport in Africa. Part of the International Federation of 7-a-side Football (IFA7), CAF7’s goal is to use sport as a lever for education, social integration, and economic development (see here a previous article by BeBeez International). Still on the subject of football, it’s worth remembering that in 2022, Citic Holding IF Group made headlines for its attempt to acquire Cagliari Calcio. However, the deal fell through (see the press release from that time here). Previously, another Citic subsidiary, Citic Europe Holdings, acquired the Prague-based football club SK Slavia Prague and its stadium, which were then sold after five years, in 2023, to Czech businessman Pavel Tykač (see the press release here).
