Clifford Chance

Firm takes home most awards of the evening including International Law Firm of the Year

Clifford Chance and Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm (AS&H) in co-operation with Clifford Chance are proud to have won ten awards at the IFLR Middle East Awards in 2022. The ceremony, held in Dubai, showcases the most legally innovative cross-border transactions from across the GCC over the past year as well as the teams and individuals behind the deals.

In addition to being named International Law Firm of the Year, Law Firm of the Year – Saudi Arabia, Restructuring Team of the Year and Equity Team of the Year, the Middle East teams in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh took home an additional six deal and individual awards across the following categories.

As noted by IFLR, "Clifford Chance enjoyed an exceptional year in the Middle East, taking a key role on a truly impressive number of the region’s most innovative and impactful cross-border deals during the review period. It stood out across a variety of practice areas, attesting to the breadth of its capabilities. A huge variety of sources acknowledge the firm as among the most impressive in the region, and its partners, counsel and associates were all regularly singled out for contributions over the review period. Its experience, collaborative approach and seamless service were all noted as particular strengths."

Mohammed Al-Shukairy, Regional Managing Partner for Clifford Chance in the Middle East, adds: ''We are very proud of our lawyers' unwavering dedication to clients as well as the strength of our teams across all practice areas in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh which has allowed us to advise the region’s best clients on their most strategic mandates."

IFLR Descriptions of Awards

• Debt and equity-linked Deal of the Year – Federal Government of the UAE debut bond offering
  The Federal Government of the UAE’s treasury bond programme is the first of its kind in the Middle East, and is expected to have a wide-ranging implications for the country’s economy. While individual Emirates have issued debt in the past, this was a first from the Federal Government and was made possible by a recent change to the country’s legal framework. The bond was quadruple listed in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, Taiwan and London, which required extensive work with four sets of regulators.
• Domestic Deal of the Year – Masraf Al Rayan/Al Khaliji Commercial Bank
  This deal combined an Islamic bank and a conventional bank, transforming the landscape for Islamic banking in Qatar. Conventional bank Al Khaliji Commercial Bank was dissolved, leaving Masraf Al Rayan as the surviving entity. Merging a conventional and Islamic institution is not a straightforward process, and legal teams had to navigate inconsistencies and conflict in legal documents and work with a number of different regulators to find a way through. The transaction also required some conventional products to be converted to Islamic products, which demanded close cooperation with the Sharia board. Further, the deal incorporated a creative and untested solution to facilitate the wholesale movement of securities across banks in a consolidation. The transaction has implications beyond Qatar, as it has led to the entry of a regional Islamic bank into the French market.
• Equity Deal of the Year – Fertiglobe IPO
  The Fertiglobe IPO marks the first listing by an ADGM company on a UAE stock exchange. A number of unique challenges arose during the course of the deal as a result of the untested regulatory framework. As an ADGM company, Fertiglobe was English-law governed, and work was needed to reconcile this with the requirements of the ADX. The deal also led to novel discussions around the regulatory interface between ADGM, SCA and ADX and corporate governance application. Legal advisors also had to work closely with a number of different banks to clarify their position in relation to ADGM law.
• Restructuring Deal of the Year – NMC Healthcare
  Nearly two years after being placed into administration, the company completed its restructuring in March 2022. The deal involved a number of firsts, including the first migrations of onshore UAE entities into the ADGM, the first administration funding facility under the ADGM’s priority financing regime, the first administrations of ADGM entities, and the first deeds of company arrangement in respect of ADGM entities. It also incorporated both conventional and Islamic structuring elements, which created further complexity.
• IFLR Women Dealmakers Hall of Fame – Nicola Reader
  Nicola is popular with both clients and counsel alike, and is increasingly prominent in the region as a restructuring specialist. Reader’s leading role on the historic NMC Healthcare restructuring was key to cementing her induction to the IFLR Women Dealmakers Hall of Fame this year. The deal incorporated a number of firsts and was a true landmark for the region. She has also advised on some notable sustainability-linked loans for Etihad and Aldar. She was singled out during research for her key role in Etihad’s loan in particular, which included a complex interest rebate mechanism. Extensive work was also required to ensure that the KPI metrics it was linked to were measurable and watertight. These KPIs included the reduction of carbon emissions, an integrity score indicator, and the increase in employment and upskilling of Emirati women in the aviation sector, with the indicator measuring both female participation and ongoing training and development.
• Rising Star of the Year – Sultan Al Fayez
  Sultan is a Senior Associate in the Corporate & Equity Capital Markets practices of AS&H. In the past year he has advised on a number of landmark public offering, M&A, construction and automotive transactions in Saudi Arabia. Sources were full of praise for AlFayez’s performance in particular on stc’s follow-on offering.