The Legal 500

Al Kamel Law Office recently advised a global drinks brand on its potential acquisition of an Egyptian dairy concern. Rasheed Kamel, Mohamed Kamel and Mahmoud Wahba are the partners of choice for major players in the international food and beverages, hotel and leisure, and pharmaceuticals sectors.

Helmy, Hamza & Partners (Baker & McKenzie)’s ‘strong legal capability’ gives the firm a leading edge in the corporate and M&A field. It advised on the IFC’s €80m equity investment in Alexandria Portland Cement, and on Semiramis Hotels’ acquisition of Arab Investment for Urbanization Co. Mohamed Ghannam, Hatem Soliman and Mohamad Talaat are the key figures in the practice.

Zaki Hashem & Partners, Attorneys at Law’s longstanding reputation handling transactions for top-drawer clients in the hotel, oil, telecoms and construction sectors persists in the market, despite its well-regarded capital markets team joining DLA Matouk Bassiouny in January 2011. Veteran practitioner Yasser Hashem remains at the helm.

Zulficar & Partners Law Firm consistently features on Egypt’s most high-profile deals, and recently advised VimpelCom on its $6.6bn share sale to Orascom’s majority shareholder, Weather. In another landmark deal, the ‘awesome’ Mona Zulficar’s team acted for Paradise Capital on the $450m sale of a controlling interest in Olympic Group, a leading Egyptian appliances manufacturer, to Electrolux.

DLA Matouk Bassiouny has ‘evolved into a first-class legal firm’. Omar Bassiouny and John Matouk were joined by capital markets specialists Mohammed Abdel Fattah and Mohamed Gabr from Zaki Hashem & Partners, Attorneys at Law in January 2011, and ‘the four of them collectively are huge’. Senior associate Ahmed Abdel Gawad, who assisted on Citadel Capital’s divestment of a minority stake to IFC, is an emerging talent.

Ibrachy & Dermarkar advised the seller as local counsel on Lafarge’s €8.8bn purchase of Orascom Building Materials. Bahieldin El Ibrachy recently advised Alkan Holding on selling Alkan Pharma to Hikma plc.

Ibrachy Law Firm is ‘legal adviser of choice’ to local and international organisations in various sectors, and its team of ‘hands-on professionals’ has ‘very strong knowledge’. Tarek Gadallah led on Al Faisal Holding’s $250m acquisition of the entire share capital of First Arabian Hotels and Resorts; Ashraf Elibrachy led on the syndicated finance aspects.

Nour Law Office managed by Trowers and Hamlins attracts clients ranging from private equity and lease finance houses to Egyptian holding and trading companies. Sara Hinton and Tim Armsby have robust reputations for SME-scale transactions.

Shalakany Law Office is ‘adept at helping foreign companies navigate Egyptian regulations’, including in the heavily regulated oil and gas sector and the hotels and food industries. Senior partner Emad El Shalakany guided Kraft Foods Egypt through the process of merging Cadbury Egypt into Family Nutrition. Newly promoted partner Aly El Shalakany, who has ‘keen business sense’, acted for Vitol and Helios on their purchase of the majority of Shell’s African downstream oil business in February 2011.

Hassouna & Abou Ali’s impressive client list includes Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson. Ahmed Abou Ali and Mohammed Hassouna advise on day-to-day contractual and corporate governance matters.

Tarek Riad is Kosheri, Rashed & Riad’s corporate law expert. He helped to draft Egypt’s original companies, telecoms and investment laws, and in May 2011 was appointed to the post-revolutionary council preparing new laws. The firm’s clients include Philip Morris, Caterpillar, BP and TimeWarner.

Marghany Advocates has a ‘very good understanding of the start-up/venture capital dynamic’, and advised specialist IT development funds on the restructuring and acquisition of several local and international internet and software businesses in 2010. The firm advised Offerna, Egypt’s first group discount website, on a $1.5m investment by an international fund. Amir Marghany gives clients confidence in their dealings with multinational business partners.

Although better known for litigation, Nadoury & Nahas Law Offices has substantial corporate experience advising clients such as Gloria Vanderbilt and Allfirst Bank.

SNR Denton’s ‘straightforward and approachable’ team handles corporate and commercial transactions for clients such as Club Méditerranée, and recently advised Symrise AG on corporate restructuring. Michael Lacey heads the team.

Sarie-Eldin & Partners Legal Advisors’ competitively priced practice has a reputation for commanding a significant share of capital markets deals, including Orascom’s $200m capital increase. Capital markets expert Hani Sarie Eldin is well connected.

Sarwat A. Shahid Law Firm’s sizeable team acts for top names from a broad range of industry sectors: clients include IBM, Schlumberger and BMW. The team, headed by the ‘dependable and experienced’ Nabil Rizkallah, has a formidable record in pharmaceuticals work, having advised clients such as GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer on Egyptian acquisitions.

Karim Sarhan leads corporate matters at Sharkawy & Sarhan. His team advised IFC on acquiring 15% of Egyptian National Printing Company; and US-based drilling specialist Tesco Corporation on its acquisition of tubular services company Premiere Casing Services.