The Legal 500

Al Kamel Law Office’s well-regarded group advises financial institutions and borrowers on corporate and commercial lending, as well as asset, acquisition, property, project, and structured finance. Other areas of expertise include securitisation, capital markets, derivatives and banking regulation. Clients include Crédit Agricole Indosuez, Credit Suisse First Boston, and the IFC. Managing partner Mohamed Kamel, Rasheed Kamel and aviation specialist Tamim Foda are recommended.

Helmy, Hamza & Partners (Baker & McKenzie) recently advised the IFC on loans of $200m and $125m to an Orascom Construction Industries subsidiary; and Proparco on a financing of Wadi Holding. It also advised Citibank, as escrow agent, on Citadel Group’s $300m refinancing. Mohamed Ghannam, Mohamad Talaat, Hazim Rizkana and Hatem Soliman are the key figures.

Zulficar & Partners Law Firm’s excellent practice advised a lender consortium on a E£1.1bn syndicated facility for Arab National Cement Company; and initial mandated lead arranger MobiNil on a E£2bn syndicated medium term facility agreement with National Bank of Egypt, NSGB and Commercial International Bank (Egypt) as lenders. The ‘experienced’ Mona Zulficar is ‘well equipped with strong legal knowledge and negotiation skills’. Head of banking Ashraf Ihab is also recommended.

DLA Matouk Bassiouny’s ‘reliable’ team ‘demonstrates profound knowledge of difficult and sensitive legal matters’. It advises on asset, project, trade, and real estate finance, as well as local security for lenders. It recently advised Crédit Agricole CIB on its $150m pre-export facility agreement with the Egyptian National Oil Company. Mahmoud Bassiouny is ‘one of the best and most reliable lawyers in Egypt’, and Mohamed Abdel Fattah is recommended for capital markets.

Shalakany Law Office provides ‘an excellent level of service’ and ‘deals with matters in a timely and efficient manner’. It advised African Export-Import Bank on a $500m notes issuance under its $1.5bn EMTN programme. Aly El Shalakany is ‘very responsive and understands the needs of the client’. Of counsel Amina El Oteify recently re-joined the firm having worked as an adviser to the FSA.

Sharkawy & Sarhan has ‘a can-do approach’ when ‘working with fast-paced and demanding requirements’. It advised Standard Chartered on the financing of a company’s purchase of a new packaging plant, and is advising Société Générale on the sale of NSGB to Qatar National Bank. Other clients include Citibank, UBS, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, OPIC and the IFC. Ahmed El Sharkawy has the ‘ability to think creatively to devise functional transactional solutions’. Amr Abbas and Islamic finance specialist Karim Sarhan are also recommended.

Zaki Hashem & Partners, Attorneys at Law has a number of English, French, German and Arabic speakers, with considerable experience in advising local and international banks. Managing partner Yasser Hashem is the key figure, and founding partner Zaki Hashem is highly respected.

Dentons’ managing partner Michael Lacey has project finance experience, and legal consultant Frédérique Léger specialises in banking and asset finance with particular emphasis on energy-related matters.

Ibrachy & Dermarkar is local counsel to l’Agence Française de Développement on a €30m credit facility agreement with the National Bank of Egypt, and is advising a bank on the enforcement of $100m of share pledges. Managing partner Bahieldin El Ibrachy, Tamima Yehia and recently promoted partner Fatma Salah are recommended.

Ibrachy & Partners’ expertise spans various forms of financing, equity and debt capital markets, and private equity. It advised Orascom Telecom on a $2.5bn syndicated facility to refinance existing facilities. Managing partner Ashraf Elibrachy and Islamic finance expert Tarek Gadallah are recommended.

Nour Law Office managed by Trowers and Hamlins suffered a blow when Tim Armsby joined Eversheds LLP in Abu Dhabi. However, the firm continues to advise clients such as Exim Bank, Sigma Capital, Arabian Cement Company and the IFC. Managing partner Sara Hinton is the main contact.

Nassar Law’s Nagla Nassar has experience in restructuring, corporate and Islamic finance.