The Legal 500

Within Banking and finance, Haidermota & Co is a first tier firm,

Haidermota & Co represents both domestic and international clients and is known for undertaking complex, multibillion-rupee project finance transactions. The firm represented Engro Chemical Pakistan Ltd in raising approximately $1bn debt financing through foreign, local and Islamic finance facilities in both foreign and domestic currencies. Khozem Haidermota is recommended.

Within Capital markets, Haidermota & Co is a first tier firm,

Haidermota & Co’s highly recommended team advises on all aspects of funds and securities matters. It acted for clients in the flotation of open-ended and closed-ended funds and non-banking finance companies. It also acted in Cinepax Ltd’s public floatation, and advises on public offerings of convertible Term Finance Certificates (TFCs) and TFCs with detachable warrants. It also represented Pak Omen Investment Co (Private) Ltd on the first issuance of commercial paper in Pakistan to Packages Ltd. Partners Khozem Haidermota and Ali Akber Vasi are recommended, as is associate Haroon Baryalay.

Within Corporate and M&A, Haidermota & Co is a first tier firm,

Haidermota & Co’s team is spread across the firm’s Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad offices. It advises on capital restructuring, divestment, bifurcations and amalgamations, mergers and demergers, takeovers and acquisitions. It recently represented Singapore Telecommunications Ltd in its $700m acquisition of a 30% equity stake in Waird Telecom (Private) Ltd. Karachi-based Khozem Haidermota is recommended, as is Mohammad Anwer. Umar Shereef heads the Lahore arm of the team.

Within Dispute resolution, Haidermota & Co is a third tier firm,

Leveraging its banking and capital markets teams, Haidermota & Co’s litigation practice represents banking and corporate clients in contentious commercial, banking and shareholders’ rights disputes before the Pakistan courts, as well as in international arbitration. It successfully represented minority shareholders in their petition challenging the proposed amalgamation of Pfizer Laboratories Ltd with Parke Davis & Company Ltd. Kazim Hasan leads the team.

Within Environment, Haidermota & Co is a first tier firm,

Haidermota & Co advises numerous gas, oil and petroleum companies on environmental impact issues related to M&A and financing transactions. Representative clients include Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd.

Within Legal market overview,

Lawyers and firms continue to practice across a range of disciplines and therefore appear in more than one practice area. In the current climate, this has allowed major players such as Haidermota & Co, Mandviwalla & Zafar, Orr, Dignam & Co, and Rizvi, Isa, Afridi & Angell to successfully weather the storm through their broad-based approach and workload.

Within Projects and energy, Haidermota & Co is a first tier firm,

Haidermota & Co advises power generation companies, domestic and international lenders, and investors on regulatory issues (including monopolisation) purchase, implementation, and supply agreements, as well as acquisitions and divestments. It recently acted for senior lenders and participating banks on the Orient Powerproject (212.7MW, net), Pakistan’s first locally financed, greenfield thermal power project. Ali Asgher Khan and Umar Shereef are recommended.

Within Real estate and construction, Haidermota & Co is a first tier firm,

Mohammad Anwer heads Haidermota & Co’s team, which effectively utilises its expertise in the banking, projects and energy sectors to advise clients on the acquisition and disposition of properties, lease agreements, title issues and due diligence. Clients have included JS Bank, Arif Habib Bank, Orient Power and Zorlu Enerji Pakistan Ltd.

Within TMT, Haidermota & Co is a third tier firm,

Haidermota & Co handles TMT matters for its corporate client base, advising on IT-related projects such as software licensing agreements, franchise agreements for internet services, online banking and e-commerce, and the harmonising of ATM providers. Clients include Citibank N.A. and ABN AMRO Bank.

Within Tax, Haidermota & Co is a second tier firm,

Haidermota & Co provides its corporate clients with transactional tax advice. It has also previously represented clients in challenges against taxation authorities.