Herbert Smith Freehills advises UPL on joint venture with Masarrah Investment Company

The transaction is one of the biggest announced joint ventures in the India-Saudi corridor and was driven by the Saudi National Industrial Development program.

UPL is a leading provider of sustainable agricultural solutions and services, with more than 14,000 product registrations, a presence in almost 140 countries, access to 90% of the world’s food basket, and annual revenue exceeding US$6 billion. MIC is a diversified business house based in Riyadh that has interests in flour milling, animal feed, water desalination, real estate, hospitality, consumer goods, financial investments, among others.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by London based Corporate/M&A partner Siddhartha Shukla together with Riyadh managing partner Joza AlRasheed, working closely with the senior commercial and legal team led by global general counsel Seema Singh and counsel Sunayana Bose.

They were supported by senior associates Raj Mathew and Simon O'Connell-Schizas and associates Dean Wanjala and Ananya Bajpai.

Partner Siddhartha Shukla commented: "It is a pleasure to have advised UPL on its first foray into Saudi. We are seeing increased activity in the India-Middle East corridor which plays to our firm's strengths and demonstrates our ability to meet the global needs of our clients.