Opening in 1975, Shearman & Sterling vies with the country's two most prominent magic circle firms for the accolade of longest serving international firm in the UAE. Strategically based in Abu Dhabi, home to the government, sovereign wealth funds, oil and gas companies and clients such as Mubadala, IPIC and Aabar, the firm is primarily known for its project finance and M&A work....
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Opening in 1975, Shearman & Sterling vies with the country's two most prominent magic circle firms for the accolade of longest serving international firm in the UAE. Strategically based in Abu Dhabi, home to the government, sovereign wealth funds, oil and gas companies and clients such as Mubadala, IPIC and Aabar, the firm is primarily known for its project finance and M&A work.
While some peers suggest the firm's work is very focused around a few key clients, its transactional list shows a different story with enough key mandates to keep it occupied on the banking and finance and M&A sides it retains its rankings.
Deals
The transaction which best represents Shearman's rising status in the Middle East saw lead London based partner Barney Reynolds and counsel Azad Ali act for the UAE Ministry of Finance on the draft of a legislative package for the modernisation of the country's financial regulation. The work is part of the country's broader process of diversifying its practice away from a dependency on oil. The new regulatory system will be based on a 'twin peaks' system consisting of prudential and conduct of business regimes. The wider project also includes amendments to laws governing both the Central Bank and the Securities and Commodities Authority. The scale of the mandate drew in firm partners from London, Abu Dhabi and New York.
In capital markets, the team acted for Dolphin Energy on its $1.3 billion bond issue, with the proceeds used to refinance an existing facility.
In the corporate and projects space, Ian Elder advised the Dow Chemical Company on its joint venture with Saudi Aramco on the $20 billion construction of a petrochemicals production complex in Saudi Arabia. The firm also acted for the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the other lenders on the $252 million financing and 29 year concession arrangement for the Muharraq wastewater project in Bahrain.
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