Carlos Abou Jaoude

Carlos Abou Jaoude is the founder and managing partner of Abou Jaoude & Associates. Carlos has more than 30 years of experience advising key players in the private and public sectors on strategic legal matters, and has led on major transactions of first impression in the region. He is particularly renowned for his exceptional business and financial perspective on legal transactions, and solution-oriented approach.

Carlos is often solicited by public authorities to opine on policy and legislation reforms. He is consistently recognized as a Leading Lawyer by prominent international directories, including Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and IFLR1000.

• Advised leading Lebanese bank IBL on the first-of-its kind US$100 million issuance of subordinated bonds with a unique interest payment structure in compliance with highly complex capital adequacy and capital markets regulations amidst Lebanon’s unprecedented banking crisis
• Advised Jableb Holding led by the prominent investment banker Philippe Jabre (CEO of Swiss hedge fund Jabre Capital Partners S.A.) on the multi-million dollar acquisition of the Lebanese beer company ALMAZA from global Dutch company Heineken, involving a highly complex dual-currency valuation in US Dollars and Lebanese pounds amidst Lebanon’s unprecedented financial crisis, and a hybrid transaction structure with a buyout and a recapitalization
• Advised the Lebanese Government represented by the Ministry of Energy on a 300M$ crucial project to address Lebanon’s crippling electricity crisis through a tripartite gas import agreements between Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, where Lebanon will receive 650 million cubic meters of natural gas, involving a highly complex structure and regulatory framework, including the conditional financing by the World Bank and the approval of the United States for compliance with its Syria sanctions regime
• Advised Big Four audit firm Ernst & Young acting for Swiss banks on the Banking Model Manual relating to the cross-border offer of financial products and services into Lebanon under the complex regulations of Lebanon’s Capital Markets Authority
• Advised the lending arm of the National Bank of Kuwait, the largest Kuwaiti bank and the highest rated in the Middle East, on a multi-million cross-border mezzanine facility to a leading international telecoms group, involving a complex multi-jurisdictional security structure with share pledges, corporate guarantees, personal guarantees and bank account charges
• Advised leading private bank FFA acting on a fiduciary basis on the multi-million acquisition of an equity stake in the prominent aluminum manufacturing group SIDEM based on a first-of-its-kind valuation involving a mix of “fresh” and “local” US Dollars, through a highly complex structure with two types of profit-sharing loans, subject to a regulatory approval process before the Capital Markets Authority of Lebanon
• Advised Fortune500 American multinational conglomerate 3M on the establishment of its business presence in Lebanon
• Advised Bank Audi, Lebanon’s biggest bank, leading the syndicate of lenders including major international development finance institutions, on the circa US$300 Million cross-border syndicated facility to finance the first renewable (wind) energy projects in Lebanon under the first-ever Power Purchase Agreement with the Government of Lebanon
• Advised on Lebanon’s first-ever Exploration and Production Agreement with the Total/ENI/Novatek consortium for the exploration of offshore petroleum resources
• Advised the major Danish-German BWSC/MAN Diesel consortium on two EPC contracts with the Lebanese Government for the c. Euro 270 Million reciprocating engines power projects in Lebanon
• Advised major energy group Debbas on the US$200M renewal and extension of a DSP Contract with the Lebanese Government
• Advised a major Lebanese private bank on the multi-million acquisition of a real estate company through the issuance of convertible bonds
• Advised on the US$150 Million cross-border syndicated facility led by Deutsche bank to a telecoms group
• Advised on the ground-breaking multi- bank private placement initiative to finance the launch of a TV station
• Advised on the largest private debt restructuring in Lebanon involving a large real estate portfolio

• Banking
• M&A
• Private equity
• Investment funds
• PPP/PFI
• Financial restructuring
• Project development

• Banking
• Financial services
• Media
• Energy
• Government and public policy
• Real estate
• Tech and telecoms

• Member of the International Bar Association
• Member of the American Chamber of Commerce’s (AmCham) Banking & Finance Committee
• Member of the Ethics Committee of the Beirut Bar Association
• Sits on several boards of directors and special committees of prominent corporations and investment funds
• Acted on the special inter-ministerial legal committee for the Reform of the Investment Climate in Lebanon organized by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in collaboration with the World Bank and the IFC

• Master’s Degree in Law (French and Lebanese Law), Saint Joseph University, Beirut
• Co-author of the Lebanon chapter of the Inward Investment & International Taxation Review published by The Law Reviews and edited by Latham & Watkins USA; the Lebanon chapter of the Banking Regulation guide published by Getting the Deal Through and edited by Wachtell, Lipton, Rose and Katz USA; and the Lebanon chapter of the Energy Regulation & Markets Review published by The Law Reviews and edited by Latham & Watkins USA.
• Contributor to the World Bank Doing Business Reports on Lebanon
• Speaker at the Euromoney Lebanon conference and the International Beirut Energy Forum