BonelliErede > Dubai, United Arab Emirates > Firm Profile
BonelliErede Offices
1404 Index Tower
DIFC
PO Box 506828
United Arab Emirates
BonelliErede > The Legal 500 Rankings
United Arab Emirates > Commercial, corporate and M&A Tier 5
An ‘exceptional, commercial focused yet legally knowledgeable team‘, BonelliErede manages and negotiates a range of transactions including M&A, joint ventures, and restructurings. Marco De Leo leads the practice and is the key driver behind the firm’s growing volume of cross-border mandates, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Riccardo Denaro is experienced across multiple sectors, including real estate, hospitality and retail, and provides further M&A and PE expertise, as well as skill in tech and fintech matters.Practice head(s):
Marco De Leo
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘The BonelliErede team are exceptional. They are a commercially focused yet legally knowledgeable team, who find innovative solutions for commercial problems. This enables a collaborative approach between the commercial and the legal teams and the best business outcomes in terms of financial results as well as defining a risk appetite that keeps the business safe at all times. ’
‘Marco De Leo and Riccardo Denaro are both very knowledgeable and have a name for themselves within the Retail industry. They have in depth knowledge of the business vertical.’
‘The team at Bonelli Erede is second to none. Their understanding of the commercial aspect of our business combined with their resourcefulness in terms of the law makes them much more than legal advisors. This combination translates into their advice carrying much more weight than some firms we have worked with previously which only provided legal advice completely disconnected from the commercial repercussions of decisions.’
‘We work closely with Marco De Leo and Riccardo Denaro. Each bring their own expertise into the equation while sharing information between each other seamlessly. This makes working with them as a unit very easy and improves efficiencies which improves the quality of the output.’
Key clients
Al Mana Fashion Group
Banijay Group
Dior
EssilorLuxottica
Fendi
Fincantieri
Hitachi Rail STS
MaxMara
Prada
Stadler Rail AG
Work highlights
- Advised Fincantieri in formalising the approx. Euro 30 billion joint venture of MAESTRAL with EDGE Group
- Advised L-Catterton in entering a definitive Euro 1.4 billion agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Italian beauty brand KIKO Milano from the founding Percassi family.
- Assisted Hitachi Rail STS Group in relation to their participation to public and private tenders for the operation and maintenance of railway and metro systems in the UAE and in the GCC.
BonelliErede > Firm Profile
Founded in 1999 from the merger of three Italian law firms, BonelliErede is one of the largest independent law firms in Italy, with offices in Milan, Rome, Genoa, Brussels, London, Cairo (in cooperation with Bahaa-Eldin Law Office), Addis Ababa (in cooperation with Lidet Abebe Tizazu Law Office) and Dubai. The firm is a true international player that offers a full range of commercial legal and tax services, combining business acumen with academic excellence.
To better respond to clients’ needs, BonelliErede offers support through a number of specialised focus teams, which bring together the legal expertise of professionals from various practice areas. The focus teams are organised by sector and practice area and pool professionals’ individual legal expertise and in-depth sector knowledge to offer clients assistance with all aspects of their businesses.
The Dubai office, in the heart of the international financial centre, opened at the end of 2017. Dubai plays a key role as a conduit between Europe, Asia and Africa and the firm’s office there is a perfect bridge between Africa and the Middle East – boosting the firm’s ability to navigate international clients looking to invest in this wider region and local players interested in diversifying through expansion in Europe or Africa.
The Dubai office is headed up by Catia Tomasetti, partner at BonelliErede, who oversees the development of the practice in the Gulf area together with Marco De Leo, managing partner of BonelliErede Middle East LLP. They are flanked by a multidisciplinary team of various seniority.
The firm’s local service offering is centred around corporate/M&A, project finance and PPP, international arbitration and international taxation. The main sectors served, besides the long-established oil and gas industry, are industrial goods, consumer goods (with a focus on luxury), shipping, healthcare and life sciences, construction, arts and cultural property, and private equity.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marco De Leo | [email protected] | +971 45646618 | |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Marco De Leo | Marco De Leo specialises in corporate law with particular focus on the… | View Profile |
|
|
Riccardo Denaro | Managing Associate Riccardo Denaro specialises in company law, with particular focus on… | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Professionals : over 500Languages
Amharic Arabic Chinese English French German Italian SpanishMemberships
Best Friends networkOther
Offices : Addis Ababa, Brussels, Cairo, Dubai, Genoa, London, Milan, RomeDiversity
Since the firm’s founding, BonelliErede has always had the interest of its people at heart, regardless of one’s gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. In 2021, the partners approved the introduction of pink quotas within the Board which ensures the presence of at least one woman on the Board. Today, the Board is made up of 7 partners of which 3 are women, and the number includes the firm’s Managing Partner Eliana Catalano.
BonelliErede has a dedicated D&I Committee, firstly launched in July 2021. The committee is made up of partners, associates and business support staff –believing that only by putting people from across the firm together it is possible to really address the importance of inclusion. Diversity & Inclusion is promoted and analysed at all stages, starting from the hiring process and all throughout peoples’ time within the firm.
In 2023, BonelliErede adopted its D&I policy.
More recently, BonelliErede has launched the “D&I Talks”, a series of events open to internal people and externally, organised at our offices by our Diversity & Inclusion Committee. The initiative aims to foster discussions on topics related to diversity and inclusion, such as biases hidden in the language and how to protect and support in context of gender-based violence.
The firm was also awarded the bronze medal from Ecovadis, one of the leading international platforms for the assessment of corporate sustainability criteria.
International Capabilities
Besides Dubai, BonelliErede has strategic outposts in Cairo (Egypt), in cooperation with Bahaa Eldin law Office, and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), in cooperation with Lidet Abebe Tizazu Law Office. In addition, thanks to a cooperation agreement with Zahaf & Partners, the firm is also present in Tripoli.
Cairo and Addis Ababa were the first outposts established, back in 2016, and are the hub for BonelliErede’s development in Africa. The Dubai office was opened in 2017 to serve the entire Gulf area and support international investment in Africa.
Beyond Egypt, Ethiopia and the UAE, the firm continues to strengthen its network of highly reputed African and Middle Eastern law firms to respond to its clients’ needs across the regions.
- Commercial, corporate and M&A