Linklaters LLP
Linklaters LLP is a Magic Circle firm with 30 offices in 23 countries. It has been active in the Middle East for over 30 years and opened its Dubai office in 2006 with the prominent lateral hire of Ewan Cameron, former head of corporate and securities at Clifford Chance’s Dubai office.
The firm has an impressive client list that includes government agencies, financial institutions, sponsors, corporations and individuals. It has, as a result, worked on a number of the most significant deals in the region including the Dubai Ports/P&O and Dubai Aerospace transactions, the groundbreaking DP World IPO, and the largest ever listing of bonds on the DIFX, by Dubai Holding.
Lawyers from the firm appear eight times on the following pages and feature in five of the 16 chapters. Linklaters is known for its international corporate and M&A practice and it is clear from the spread of their nominations that the firm is especially strong in the M&A and corporate finance arena, with multiple nominees in both the merger and acquisition and capital markets chapters, where it “has consistently impressed” our sources. Ewan Cameron is managing partner of the Dubai office and can be found in both sections, accompanied by the “incredibly user-friendly, tactically astute” Scott Campbell. Nick Garland transferred from the London office to Dubai in May 2007, and is the third partner to feature in the mergers & acquisitions section.
Tim Ross represents the firm in the banking chapter and Jonathan Inman features prominently in the project finance section. Luma Saqqaf is head of Islamic finance at the firm and demonstrates the strength in depth of Linklaters’ finance capabilities and its expertise in what is an increasingly important area.