Rob Little > ASAR - Al Ruwayeh & Partners > Kuwait City, Kuwait > Lawyer Profile

ASAR - Al Ruwayeh & Partners
Levels 36, 37 (main reception) & 38 Assima Tower
Othman Bin Affan St
Mirqab
Kuwait

Work Department

Banking & Finance; Capital Markets & Securities; Corporate; Mergers & Acquisitions; PPP & PFI Projects; Restructuring & Insolvency

Position

Counsel

Career

Rob regularly practices in the area of banking and finance, capital markets and securities (including OTC derivatives and repos), M&A, public private partnerships, restructuring and insolvency, and general corporate matters. He has an extensive track record in advising in this area with more than 20 years of experience in Kuwait. Rob regularly advises both local and international banks and borrowers, well as corporate clients large and small, on domestic and cross-border transactions.

Professional Experience

Equate USD6-billion facility agreement: Rob acted as Kuwaiti law counsel to the arrangers and the agent with respect to a USD6-billion loan facility to Equate Petrochemical Company KSCC, more than half of which will be used to pay for its acquisition of petrochemical company ME Global from Dow Chemical. The arrangers for the loan were Citibank, NA, HSBC Bank plc, JP Morgan Limited, Kuwait Finance House KSCP and National Bank of Kuwait SAKP. The facilities comprise two conventional term loan facilities and one Shari’a-compliant commodity murabaha facility. The transaction was one of the largest corporate acquisition financings arranged in the Middle East in the past few years.
Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) USD2.5-billion EMTN Programme: Rob acted as Kuwait counsel to GIC in connection with the first ever Kuwait EMTN Programme. Rob continues to act as Kuwait legal counsel for a variety of Kuwait established bond and sukuk programs, some of which have been nominated for IFLR Debt and Equity deals of the year.
Acquisition of Kuwait Energy plc: Rob acted as counsel to the vendor with regard to the sale of Kuwait Energy plc by way of a Jersey scheme of arrangement, whereby a purchaser listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange acquired the entire issued share capital of Kuwait Energy plc. The deal value was USD477,285,000. This transaction was nominated for M&A deal of the year at the 2019 IFLR awards.
Adeem Investment and Wealth Management restructuring: Rob acted as Kuwaiti counsel to the creditors on the restructuring of a USD437-million facility which involved multi-jurisdictional elements. The deal involved a bespoke restructuring of the conventional and Shari’a-compliant financing arrangements provided to certain subsidiaries of Adeem. This transaction won the prestigious IFLR Restructuring Deal of the Year Award for 2017. Rob has also acted for various other restructurings valued well over USD4-billion, including The Investment Dar (50% owner of Aston Martin), Global Investment House, and Aayan Investment Company.

Languages

English

Memberships

Non practicing member of the Law Society of Saskatchewan, 1993

Education

Juris Doctor, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 1991

Lawyer Rankings

Kuwait > Commercial, corporate and M&A

ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners‘ corporate practice is home to a team of ‘seasoned professionals with deep knowledge of the local market‘. The group stands out for its strength in handling M&A transactions and corporate governance matters. Rob Little and Sam Habbas have extensive experience in M&A and restructuring, and Paul Day advises domestic and international clients on franchise and distribution matters and establishing operations in Kuwait. Recent instructions include John Cunha and Luis Cunha advising Saudi Arabian company Jadwa Investment on its acquisition of a 35%  stake in the Gissah Perfumes Company. Ezekiel Tuma is well versed in handling commercial and corporate transactions in Kuwait, and Ibrahim Sattout stands out for providing ‘excellent, clear and useful advice‘.

Kuwait > Banking and finance

(Leading individuals)

Rob Little – ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners

ASAR – Al Ruwayeh & Partners‘ banking and finance practice ‘stands out as a beacon of excellence in Kuwait‘, and the team’s ‘unwavering dedication and meticulous approach have cemented their reputation as the crème de la crème‘. The sizeable group is home to senior partner Sam Habbas, Rob Little, Ibrahim Sattout, Ezekiel Tuma and John Cunha; the quintet’s expertise spans bilateral and syndicated financing, private equity matters, project finance, trade finance and Islamic finance. Tuma has particular expertise in handling acquisition financing and restructuring mandates, and Little is singled out for his strength in assisting with securities and Sukuk transactions. In the capital markets space, Cunha is instructed by issuers, arrangers and underwriters on debt capital markets transactions.