Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advising Buyers on AED1 billion acquisition of Byrne Group in the GCC

Clifford Chance is acting as the buy-side legal advisor on the proposed AED1 billion acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Byrne Equipment Rental LLC and its subsidiaries (Byrne Group).

The acquisition has been made through Tamar VPower Energy Fund I (the Fund), an equally contributed investment fund by VPower Group International Holdings Limited (VPower) and CITIC Pacific Ltd. (CITIC Pacific), together with Itqan Holding Limited, owned by Mr. Sheikh Hamad Al Sulaiman via a joint venture company incorporated for the acquisition. Clifford Chance is also advising the joint venture company on the financing from a syndicate of banks located in the region.

The Byrne Group is a diverse equipment rental supplier in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. 

Mr. Rorce Au-Yeung, an investment committee member of the Fund and Co-Chief Executive Officer of VPower, commented, “It is the first acquisition of the Fund since its establishment in January 2018, which marks the successful collaboration of CITIC Pacific and VPower in identifying synergistic mergers and acquisitions in the energy sector through the Fund. We believe it is a mutual beneficial acquisition to all parties. The Byrne Group has demonstrated excellent operational performance over the years. Its potential growth supported by the Fund and our expertise in the power market is tremendous. The strong network of the Byrne Group, at the same time, provides a readily available platform for us to efficiently expand our SI and IBO business into the Middle East where its electricity consumption per capita is among the world’s highest, and the electricity demand has continued to outpace supply growth.”

He added: "We are very appreciative of Clifford Chance's highly integrated advice and service on this important mandate and ability to help us quickly understand deal considerations in a new market for us."

Steve Kwok, an investment committee member of the Fund and Executive Vice President of CITIC Pacific, remarked, “We are pleased with the opportunity to invest with our partner VPower in this world-class equipment rental company in the GCC. This is our first project in the region and we are confident to contribute our expertise in the power sector, and bring in other business opportunities leveraging CITIC Group’s network to support the growth of Byrne and open up the China market opportunity.”

Hamad Al Sulaiman, Chairman of Itqan and Chairman & CEO of the Byrne Group, said that “the acquisition will support Byrne’s plans to grow into the Asian market and replicate the success the company has already achieved in the GCC region, and tap into a wider scope of power generation solution market in the GCC region.”

The Clifford Chance team was led by Mohammed Al-Shukairy (M&A Partner) and Deborah Walker (Finance Partner) and included senior associates Zahra Shahab and Igor Bichenkov and associates Osama Lone and Mavi Mudiaga-Erhueh. Hong Kong based partner Amy Lo and associate Cherry Ho also assisted.