Middle East M&A Summit 2020

Overview

The Legal 500 Middle East M&A Summit brings together over 100 of the region’s leading in-house counsel to discuss the latest developments facing the in-house profession, from disruptive technology to recent advances in due diligence, risk mitigation and the trends facing in-house counsel across the Middle East.

Agenda

Speakers include

Adjou Ait Ben Idir, corporate finance lawyer, Norton Rose Fulbright

Adjou Ait Ben Idir is a corporate finance lawyer based in the Dubai office of Norton Rose Fulbright whose practice covers Middle East and Africa (in particular North Africa and OHADA countries in West and Central Africa). She is recognised for her experience in advising on mergers and acquisitions, privatisations, private placement and international joint ventures in various sectors. She was previously based in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Paris and Casablanca offices and is fluent in French, English, Arabic and Berber.

Dean Sheehan, vice president and general counsel the Middle East and Africa, PepsiCo

Dean Sheehan joined PepsiCo in 2012 as senior legal director and assumed his current position as vice president and general counsel for the Middle East and Africa in 2015. He proudly leads a diverse legal team of 20 lawyers from eleven countries, 70% of whom are women. Formerly an M&A and corporate finance partner at a major UK law firm, Sheehan has worked on a number of major transactions since moving in-house, acting as project leader on both legal and non-legal aspects of M&A transactions with a combined value of more than $1bn.

Mohammad Tbaishat, partner, Pinsent Masons LLP

Mohammad specialises in public and private M&A, joint ventures and UAE regulatory work. He has acted for a range of clients including banks, financial institutions, corporates and private equity firms. Mohammad is fluent in Arabic and English. Prior to joining the firm in October 2016, Mohammad spent the last 10 years at a magic circle firm in Dubai. He holds a B.A. degree in Law from the University of Jordan and a Master in Law degree from Harvard Law School.

Nadim El Haj, head of legal, Abu Dhabi National Hotels

Nadim El Haj joined Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company (ADNH) in October 2016 and is currently head of legal and a member of the executive management committee. During his time at ADNH he has been involved in the negotiation and closing of the AED2.2bn acquisition of five Emaar Hotels in Dubai, one of the largest ever M&A transactions in the UAE hospitality sector, as well as multiple projects that have helped ADNH in its strategic shift from a management to a franchise business model. Before joining ADNH he was general counsel and senior advisor in the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Interior’s Social Security Fund.

Nimer Basbous, general counsel, First Abu Dhabi Bank

Nimer Basbous is group general counsel at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), a financial giant born out of the merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank (FGB), of which he was formerly general counsel. Basbous worked closely on the merger and subsequent integration of NBAD and FGB, one of the largest M&A deals in the Gulf banking sector to date. He began his career in the legal department of the Central Bank of Jordan.

Ritvik Lukose, Vahura

Ritvik Lukose is a corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur. He is a graduate of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. After practicing in Mumbai with a leading corporate law firm, he began his entrepreneurial journey in 2007, to co-found ventures in the talent management, online learning and the consulting domains. He has since exited his other ventures and gone on to lead Vahura as CEO and Co-Founder. An acknowledged market leader of legal recruitment in South Asia, Vahura also excels in bringing international legal talent to opportunities in the Middle East.

Zahid Kamal, managing director, Fajr Capital

Zahid Kamal is a managing director at Fajr Capital. He is actively involved in various aspects of Fajr Capital’s transactions (including origination, execution and portfolio management) and strategic initiatives. He is also a board and executive committee member of several Fajr Capital portfolio companies, including Cravia Group, and is a member of Emerging Markets Private Equity Association’s Middle East Council. Prior to Fajr Capital, Zahid was a senior lawyer at Ashurst in London and Dubai, where he advised Fajr Capital and other corporate clients. He has over fourteen years’ experience in UK and MENA public and private company transactions, including private equity, M&A, public takeovers, IPOs, investment funds, secondary offerings, restructurings and joint ventures.

Daniel Parry, Gulf Related

Daniel Parry is the managing director and general counsel at Gulf Related. With over 20 years’ experience, he is a specialist in large scale property transactions including mixed use and standalone commercial, retail, hotel and residential projects. Prior to joining Gulf Related, Parry was senior associate in the real estate group of leading US law firm, Paul Hastings out of its New York office. At Paul Hastings, Parry worked on commercial real estate, joint ventures and finance transactions for developers, funds and banks across a broad range of complex transactions. He has been admitted to both the New York State Bar and the Supreme Court of New South Wales and graduated with a Bachelor of Law (honours) from the University of Technology, Sydney.

David Weir, Jumeirah Group

David Weir was appointed as general counsel for Jumeirah Group in November 2018. He brings over 13 years of experience handling a wide range of complex international hospitality, real estate and development projects in both top tier law firms and the hospitality industry, including US firm Jones Day, and most recently Movenpick Hotels and Resorts. With a passion for innovation coupled with a wealth of commercial experience and specialist knowledge in management agreements, leases and new developments, he is a particular asset to Jumeirah’s ongoing international growth strategy. An Irish national, he has a degree in law with European Law from the University of Nottingham and Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy.

Francesca Gori, Accenture

Francesca Gori is the regional director of legal services at Accenture, overseeing compliance, operations, regulatory and employment law. She leads a team of approximately 40 in-house lawyers across Europe, Middle East and Africa, and is the general counsel for Accenture in Middle East and Turkey. During her 18-year tenure with Accenture, she has been part of several global project implementation initiatives, as well as the set-up of new operations and legal entities across the Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia and Latin America regions. Before joining Accenture in 2006, she worked for the major Italian law firms providing support to multinational clients on employment law, data privacy matters and litigation

Jeremy Miocevic, Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle

Jeremy Miocevic focuses his corporate and commercial practice on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. He advises on market-leading private equity deals, venture capital investments, fund formation and investment management in the region. As well as advising European, US and Asian corporations on investments in the region, Miocevic represents the largest regional investment banks, private equity houses and corporations on their acquisitions, disposals and other transactions, both regionally and internationally. His knowledge and experience of the laws and regulations of the region in general, and the UAE in particular, mean that he also provides frequent general corporate and regulatory advice to clients. He advises across industry sectors, with particular experience of logistics and supply chain management, water treatment, food and beverage, media and publishing, financial services and retail.

Joanna Maria El-Khoury, Morgan Lewis & Bockius

Joanna Maria El Khoury focuses her practice on corporate and financial transactions. She has experience in cross-border matters across a number of jurisdictions including the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and North America. She advises in relation to complex mergers and acquisitions (M&A), divestitures, joint ventures, and corporate restructurings, and has experience advising investment funds in private equity and venture capital matters. She is admitted to practice in New York. Prior to moving to Dubai, Joanna worked in the Washington, DC, and Paris offices of a top-tier US law firm. She speaks English, French, and Arabic.

Katie Lenko Hiess, SGH Global

An English qualified solicitor, Katie Lenko Hiess joined long-term investment holding company SGH Global in 2018 as a founding team member. Most recently, she structured and implemented the first digital security offering to be listed on the FCA regulated London Derivatives Exchange. She was previously a founding team member and head of legal at A.P. Moller Capital where she supported the successful establishment of a dual regulated alternative investment fund manager. Prior to this she developed a legal and compliance function for the regional head office of a company operating in the marine sector across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. She began her career with leading international law firms, Clyde & Co and Holman Fenwick Willan in London and Dubai.

Mustasan Jaleel Basharat Mir, VPS Healthcare

Mustasan Jaleel Basharat Mir is group general counsel for VPS Healthcare, one of the largest global healthcare conglomerates, heading legal and corporate affairs of 25 renowned hospitals and over 100 clinics, along with brand and pharmaceutical portfolios. He has advised on and executed M&A transactions in excess of $3bn from inception to structuring and execution. His experience includes structuring and leading acquisitions of the largest public listed healthcare and private equity funds in the GCC (a transaction completed within ten days) and establishing an investment board, writing its subordinated constitution, guidelines and rules.

Nadim El Haj, Head of legal, Abu Dhabi National Hotels

Nadim El Haj joined Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company (ADNH) in October 2016 and is currently head of legal and a member of the executive management committee. During his time at ADNH he has been involved in the negotiation and closing of the AED2.2bn acquisition of five Emaar Hotels in Dubai, one of the largest ever M&A transactions in the UAE hospitality sector, as well as multiple projects that have helped ADNH in its strategic shift from a management to a franchise business model. Before joining ADNH he was general counsel and senior advisor in the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Interior’s Social Security Fund.

Roula Khaled

Roula Khaled is a Lebanese qualified lawyer currently in the process of qualifying as a UK solicitor. She has more than 15 years of experience in cross-border and domestic dispositions, mergers, acquisitions (including acquisitions of data centers) as well as a wide variety of corporate, commercial and strategic transactions in the Gulf Cooperation Council, Asia and Africa. Her last role was as mergers and acquisitions legal counsel at Etisalat where she spent seven years working on a broad range of the biggest deals in the region. She is currently moving to another role while also founding a legal consultancy firm.

Chadi Salloum, Morgan Lewis & Bockius

Chadi Salloum represents sovereign entities, multinational companies, regional utilities and financial institutions in a broad range of transactions, including corporate commercial, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings, renewable energy and other projects, private equity, privatizations, spinoffs, strategic alliances, tender offers, initial public offerings, rights offerings, and private placements of equity, equity-linked, and debt securities. He also advises clients on policy, regulatory, and governance matters and reporting obligations. Before joining Morgan Lewis, he was a partner and co-leader of the Abu Dhabi office of another global law firm. He started his legal career with a leading global law firm in New York, where he is admitted to practice.

Santiago Lucero, Alghanim Industries

Santiago Lucero is Acting Head of Legal at Kuwait-based Alghanim Industries, one of the largest privately-owned companies in the Gulf region. His broad experience encompasses various areas of law relating to cross-border practice, including corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, franchising and international dispute resolution. He regularly advises all Alghanim Industries business units worldwide with respect to diverse legal matters, with a particular focus on strategic partnerships and overseas operations. Prior to joining Alghanim Industries in 2007, Lucero was an associate in private international law firms in New York and Paris. He is dual-qualified (New York, 2002 and England and Wales, 2013) and holds degrees from l’Institut d’Études Politiques et Sociales de Paris (Sciences-Po) (1997), Amherst College (BA, 1998) and New York University School of Law (JD, 2001). Mr. Lucero is fluent in English, Spanish and French, and has a working knowledge of several other languages, including Arabic.

Stavros Panayi, Careem

Stavros Panayi is general counsel at Careem, a ride-hailing service based in Dubai, with operations in over 100 cities in 14 jurisdictions across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. In 2019, Careem became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber following a $3bn buyout that ranks as one of the most significant tech acquisitions in the Middle East. Panayi is an emerging markets specialist who spent almost ten years in Moscow followed by four years so far at Careem.

Tarek Nakkach, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Tarek Nakkach heads the legal department for the Middle East region at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He is a leading expert in technology law and a member of the International Association for Artificial Intelligence and Law. During his career, Tarek has advised on many multimillion dollar disputes spanning across the region. He also regularly advises on issues relating to technology adoption for litigation management for in-house legal teams and law firms, and has been a regular speaker at various legal conferences and seminars in the region.

Agenda