Andrews Kurth LLP announced today the opening of Andrews Kurth (Middle East) JLT in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This new office will extend the firm’s reach in the Middle East and allow the firm to better serve clients worldwide.

More >>

Latham & Watkins advised the Joint Lead Managers, BNP Paribas, Citibank, HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered Bank, the Co-Manager, Mizuho Securities, and Bond Trustee, Citibank, on Ruwais Power Company’s issuance of US$825 million Senior Secured 6.0% Bonds due 2036. The issuance closed on 6 August 2013 and was very well-received by investors.

More >>

Vinson & Elkins advised the successful sponsor consortium partners Malakoff Corporation Berhad, Sumitomo Corporation, and Cadagua S.A. on the development and financing of the Ghubrah seawater desalination project (IWP) in Oman. The key financing documents were executed last week and financial close is expected imminently. The project is the second IWP in Oman and will supply water for daily use equivalent to the amount consumed by approximately 800,000 people.

More >>

Clifford Chance and Al-Jadaan & Partners have advised BNP Paribas Investment Company KSA and GIB Capital LLC (GIB Capital) in their roles as joint lead managers and bookrunners on the issuance by SBG Sukuk Limited of its fourth short-term sukuk al-murabaha, guaranteed by Saudi Binladin Group Limited (SBG).  The financing is part of an approximately SAR12 billion financing of one of the phases of construction and development of the King Abdulaziz International Airport.

More >>

Chadbourne & Parke advised Prime Energy Consult Ltd (Prime Energy), a UAE-based oil field services firm, on the sale of its business and assets to Xodus Group, a UK-based international energy consultancy.

More >>

A highly-regarded group of lawyers with accumulated experience of more than a century of practice in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries — including eight partners who specialize in a wide range of transactional and dispute matters — joined Baker Botts L.L.P. today. The lawyers will work from firm offices in Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

More >>

Morgan Lewis today announced that it plans to open an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the additions of Ayman A. Khaleq—a leading structured finance and debt capital markets lawyer in the Middle East region who has a particular knowledge of Islamic finance—and Jim Knight—a corporate and transactional lawyer with more than 20 years of experience in energy and other industries. They are joined by London-based energy transactions partner Lewis Jones, whose fluency in the development and financing of international energy projects under English law solidifies the trio’s top-shelf service for clients with interests in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia.

More >>

Clifford Chance has advised Sorouh Real Estate PJSC on its successful merger with Aldar Properties PJSC, terms of which were agreed by their respective boards in January 2013 and approved by their respective shareholders in March 2013. The merger was recently approved by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and was declared effective by the Ministry of Economy upon close of trading on 27 June 2013.

More >>

Taylor Wessing Middle East has advised leading regional media business, Mediaquest, on its acquisition of the AME Info and SME Info websites, two of the leading business outlets for news and information in the Middle East and North Africa region from AME Info FZ-LLC, owned by Top Right Group.

More >>

King & Spalding today announced the addition of a team of three international arbitration and construction lawyers from Simmons & Simmons to its Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices, the latest move in its plan of expansion of its global disputes capabilities.

More >>