Leading international law firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised UAE banking group Emirates NBD on its acquisition of a 95.2% stake in BNP Paribas Egypt. In line with Emirates NBD’s plans for regional expansion, the deal will greatly expand the bank’s corporate and retail offering and give it a strategic presence in the key Egyptian banking market.

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International law firm Taylor Wessing (Middle East) LLP today announced the appointment of Tahir Ahmed as a new partner in its Corporate Finance group. Tahir’s appointment brings the total number of partners in the Dubai office to six and follows the recent appointment in June 2012 of Neale Downes as a partner to lead the finance team.

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International law firm Stephenson Harwood opens its Dubai office today.

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Clifford Chance is advising QNB Group on the acquisition of Société Générale’s stake in National Société Générale Bank – Egypt (NSGB).

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Latham & Watkins advised Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC, one of the leading Islamic banks in the Middle East, in connection with the region’s first perpetual and Basel III compliant tier 1 sukuk issuance. The initial benchmark size for the issuance of US$500 million was more than 30 times oversubscribed, with an order book of US$15.5 billion, and the expected profit rate of 6.375% is the lowest ever coupon for an instrument of this type. The transaction has allowed Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC to strengthen and diversify its capital base in line with international best practice in capital management.

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The Abu Dhabi office of Clifford Chance advised First Gulf Bank (FGB), a major leading financial institution headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on a new three-year US$900 million senior unsecured Term Loan Facility with a group of international banks.

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International law firm Clifford Chance, in conjunction with Al Jadaan & Partners Law Firm, has advised The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) in relation to the proposed US$1.3 billion merger of the fleets and operations of Bahri and Vela International Marine Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco. The definitive transaction documents were signed in Riyadh on 4 November 2012.

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Simmons & Simmons has advised Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, on a major services and software solution development and implementation agreement with Saudi Airlines (Saudia). The agreement was signed on 8th September 2012.

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Hogan Lovells recently advised Mashreqbank and the banks as the Syndication Legal Counsel, on an AED793m 10 year ijara re-financing for Emirates District Cooling LLC (Emicool).

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Simmons & Simmons has advised RWE Technology on their joint venture with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) to develop a leading service company for energy consulting in the region.

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