The Legal 500

Within Banking and finance, Shalakany Law Office is a second tier firm,

Shalakany Law Office represents borrowers and lenders, and recently advised the underwriters on the first international debt offering by the New Urban Communities Authority; and Solvay Alexandria Sodium Carbonate on its EGP15m loan from NSGB. Khaled El Shalakany is highly experienced and newly made up partner Aly El Shalakany is internationally trained.

Within Corporate and M&A, Shalakany Law Office is a second tier firm,

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.

Within Dispute resolution, Shalakany Law Office is a first tier firm,

Shalakany Law Office has dedicated arbitration and litigation teams in Cairo and Alexandria, as well as in Dubai. This ‘excellent’ group achieved successful results in recent arbitrations for Millennium Hotels, Unilever, and Galaxy Energy Group, and handles 10-15 new matters each year. Around 800 litigation instructions come in annually, the majority reaching a successful conclusion. Khaled El Shalakany is a ‘leading player’.

Within Intellectual property, Shalakany Law Office is a first tier firm,

Shalakany Law Office is a disputes ‘powerhouse’, which receives consistent referrals from international law firms and instructions direct from corporates looking to protect, manage and enforce IP rights in Egypt. Khaled El Shalakany’s team is ‘right on the case’.

Within Legal market overview,

Overall, the legal market is dominated by full-service firms such as Al Kamel Law Office, Shalakany Law Office, Helmy, Hamza & Partners (Baker & McKenzie) and Zaki Hashem & Partners, Attorneys at Law, although newer firms such as Ibrachy Law Firm and Zulficar & Partners Law Firm are emerging as strong challengers.

Within Oil and gas, Shalakany Law Office is a second tier firm,

Shalakany Law Office has considerable experience in upstream and downstream oil and gas matters. Plum instructions include representing Naftogaz in all three recent oil concession agreements; and EGPC and Arabian Oil Company in exploration and exploitation activities in the North West October area. The team ‘understands the needs of foreign companies’.

Within Projects and infrastructure, Shalakany Law Office is a first tier firm,

Shalakany Law Office has extensive experience acting for bidders, consortia and sponsors in the construction, transport and waste sectors. Before the projects slump, this ‘top-quality’ firm was acting for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development on the Rod El Farag Axis PPP inner-city road project; and for the GDF Suez/OCI consortium on the Dairut IPP. Aly El Shalakany has ‘a keen sense of business and the legal and practical issues’.