Allen & Overy
Allen & Overy’s Dubai office celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, making it one of the oldest multinational subsidiary offices in the UAE.
The firm bolstered its practice in the region last year with the opening of its Abu Dhabi office, securing numerous high-profile public and private clients, including Abu Dhabi National Energy, UAE University and Aabar Investment Petroleum Company. Sources were quick to praise the collective “firepower” of the two offices and the firm’s “excellent reputation in the market”. Allen & Overy lawyers have 21 entries on the following pages: the greatest number in this edition.
Described as “a powerhouse in the Middle East” Bimal Desai is a high-ranking name in the banking, project finance, oil & gas and capital markets chapters. Desai advised the project company on the Qalhat LNG project, the lenders on the Oman Polypropylene project as well as numerous sukuk transactions and loans throughout the Middle East. Also considered one of the “best at the firm” is Simon Roderick, who matches Desai in the diversity and quality of his work, earning a prominent place in the arbitration, construction, commercial litigation and M&A chapters.
The firm considers its strengths in the UAE to lie in the finance, energy, corporate and litigation sectors, and our research confirms this. Five of the firm’s attorneys appear in the project finance chapter, giving it the best representation in that section. Alongside Desai is the “top” Duncan Macnab, who recently advised Energy Arabia on its majority purchase of Central Electricity Generating Company (CEGCO) in Jordan. Also included are the “brilliant” Ibrahim Mubaydeen and the “outstanding” Francois Duquette, who also represents the firm in the aviation chapter. Ian Ingram-Johnson completes the firm’s unrivalled showing in this section while Anzal Mohammed, an internationally respected sukuk transactions expert, ranks highly in the Islamic finance chapter. Mohammed also joins Desai and Khalid Garousha, who recently advised Depa on its US$430 million IPO involving an international offering of shares on the Dubai International Financial Exchange in the capital markets chapter, where the firm again boasts the highest concentration of nominees. Garousha is also said to be “truly excellent” for M&A and he comes top in our research. He is accompanied in the chapter by Roderick and the “very strong” Pervez Akhtar, whose recent work includes advising Dubai Islamic Investment Group on the establishment of ACR ReTakaful Holdings Limited. Alongside Desai in the oil & gas chapter is Emil Pellicer, who has managed oil transactions for several corporations and government agencies throughout the region.