Matouk Bassiouny UAE > Dubai, United Arab Emirates > Firm Profile

Matouk Bassiouny UAE > Firm Profile

Matouk Bassiouny established its Dubai location in 2018, and since then has quickly established itself as one of the leading local law firms in the UAE. Led by our UAE office Managing Partner, Jirayr Habibian, our lawyers are experts in advising on all aspects of UAE law. Our Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices are well-placed to provide local legal support across the GCC.

We advise both local and international companies on a full range of issues from contentious and non-contentious corporate and commercial matters, including major project work, establishing and conducting business across the Emirates, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, property, distributions and franchise arrangements.

Matouk Bassiouny UAE > Firm Profile

Matouk Bassiouny is a leading full-service MENA law firm with over 250 lawyers operating out of its offices in Cairo, Egypt (Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy), Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Matouk Bassiouny), Khartoum, Sudan (Matouk Bassiouny in association with AIH Law Firm), and Algiers, Algeria (Matouk Bassiouny in association with SH-Avocats).

Matouk Bassiouny’s MENA offices are supplemented by a New York satellite office dedicated to enhancing the firm’s international Dispute Resolution services in addition to two country desks covering Libya and South Korea.

Our lawyers specialize in advising multinationals, corporations, financial institutions and governmental entities on all legal aspects of investing and doing business in the MENA region. Trained both locally and internationally in civil and common law systems, our lawyers are fully conversant in English, Arabic, French and Korean.

Our firm stands out in the market due to our unique capabilities and resources, which can be tailored to the specific legal and commercial needs of our clients.

Regional resources. Our firm includes more than 250 lawyers and 35 partners. We have a support staff of over 120. Our four offices are strategically located to better serve our clients’ business interests across the entire MENA region. Additionally, our firm is consistently investing in the latest knowledge-sharing technologies that help expedite our work process.

Local law expertise with international quality. Our lawyers are experts in local law and licensed to practice and plead across our jurisdictions. Our lawyers have also gained extensive international exposure having studied or worked abroad. As we routinely advise international corporations, we are deeply ingrained with international best practices.

In-depth sector understanding. Our firm collectively has access to a vast amount of knowledge and experience. We harness this information via our 18 sector-focused groups that support our practice groups. We are therefore able to deliver legal services catered to the industry-specific needs of our clients.

Commercial approach. Our mission is to find the most innovative and cost-effective solutions for our clients, as we understand that our clients need to derive maximum value from their legal spending. We do this by maintaining a proactive commercial approach to all our legal services.

Preferred MENA region legal advisor. Our firm is the preferred choice of multinational and local blue-chip clients, and we routinely partner with top-tier international law firms.

Top-ranked law firm. Matouk Bassiouny is consistently ranked as a top-tier law firm by prominent legal publications.

Our lawyers are fully committed to understanding our clients’ businesses and needs. We are organized within four main practice groups and routinely work on the following types of matters:

Capital Markets

• Bond issuing
• Funds management
• IPOs
• Privatizations
• Capital Increase
• Secondary offerings
• Listings and delisting
• Dual securities listings

Corporate and M&A

• M&As
• Corporate restructurings
• Joint ventures
• General corporate advisory
• Corporate establishments
• Company secretarial
• Venture capital and start-up legal incubation
• Anti-trust
• Intellectual property
• Employment
• Data privacy/ICT and media
• Financial technology
• Tax

Dispute Resolution

• Litigation
• Administrative law
• Contract disputes/agency and distribution
• Enforcement
• IP litigation
• Labor and employment
• Product liability
• Securities
• Tax and customs
• Investment treaty arbitration
• Commercial arbitration
• Sports arbitration
• FCPA-related investigations
• Domestic and international investigations and claims
• Transnational organized crime
• Financial crime
• Anti-money laundering
• International judicial cooperation
• Anti-trust regulatory investigations
• Regulatory filings
• Mediation and negotiations

Finance and Projects

• Asset finance
• Corporate and investment grade lending
• Derivatives and structured finance
• Islamic finance
• Leveraged and acquisition finance
• Project structuring
• Project development
• Project and infrastructure finance

We have also developed core sector focus capabilities organized into 18 specialized sector groups:

• Aviation
• Banking
• Consumer goods and retail
• Education
• Energy and water
• Healthcare
• Heavy industries
• Hospitality
• Insurance
• Life Sciences and pharmaceuticals
• Non-banking financial institutions
• Private equity
• Public procurement
• Real estate
• Sports
• Technology, media and telecommunications
• Transport and logistics
• FinTech & ECVC

As the leading law firm in the MENA region, our resources, expertise, and experience are second to none in the market. Our teams provide top-tier legal advisory services while consistently creating value for our clients.

Press Releases

MBH advises Admaius on its acquisition of a significant minority stake in Parkville

22nd March 2024 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the legal counsel to Admaius Capital Partners (“Admaius”) - an experienced African-focused private equity fund operating across several growth markets – in connection with its acquisition of a significant minority stake in Parkville Holding B.V.

MBH advises Amethis on its investment in BBI Group

15th February 2024 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as legal counsel to Amethis in connection with its minority stake acquisition, through Amethis MENA Fund II, in BBI Group, a leading data management consultancy in the MENA region.

MBH advises Azorra on its acquisition of 12 aircraft from EGYPTAIR

6th February 2024 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the legal counsel to Azorra - a well-known aircraft leasing company - in connection with the acquisition of 12 Airbus A220-300s from EGYPTAIR to complement its current A220 orderbook.

MBH advises ZCP on its investment in Solva

15th January 2024 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the international legal counsel to ZCP, an investment firm backed by the Sawiris family,

MBH advises TSFE on its Framework Agreement entered with ACWA Power to develop Egypt’s Green Fuel market

4th January 2024 We are delighted to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the Egyptian legal counsel to the TSFE Infrastructure & Utilities Sub Fund (“TSFE”) for itself and acting on behalf of the New and Renewable Energy Authority,

MBH secures a remarkable win for a global market leader in the oil and gas industry

4th January 2024 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny and Hennawy (“MBH”) Arbitration Group has achieved remarkable success by securing a favorable settlement for a global market leader in the oil and gas industry, operating worldwide in all oil and gas industry-related activities and drilling of wells.

Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy advises EBank on their EGP 2 billion medium-term facility agreement with Abd El Salam El Feky & Partners

19th December 2023 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the legal advisor to the Export Development Bank of Egypt (“EBank”) acting as the initial lead arranger and issuing bank in syndication with the National Bank of Kuwait (“NBK”),

Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy advises Touma Company on the EGP 435 million MTO on Dice

28th November 2023 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the legal counsel to Touma Company for Commercial and Industrial Investments (“Toma Company”) – in alliance with Mr. Majid Samir Touma in connection in submitting a mandatory tender offer on 90% of the total shares of Dice Readymade Clothes Company LLC’ (“Dice”).

MBH advises Khazna on its JVA with Benya to bring Egypt’s first hyper-scale data center worth more than USD 250 million

21st November 2023 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the legal advisor to Khazna Data Center Holdings Limited (“Khazna”) on its Joint Venture Agreement (“JVA”) with Fiber Misr for Telecommunications and Information Technology S.A.E. (“Benya”) in connection with the establishment of the first hyper-scale data center in Egypt’s Maadi Technology Park with a combined investment totaling more than USD 250 million.

MBH advises Mitsui & Co. on its investment in Wadi Group

21st November 2023 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the legal advisor to Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (“Mitsui & Co.”), a global leading trading and investment group in its investment in Wadi Poultry S.A.E. and related subsidiaries (“Wadi Group”), a leading group in Egyptian agribusiness.

MBH advises Mashroey on their EGP 407 million Securitization Transaction

21st November 2023 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as legal counsel to Mashroey Trading Company S.A.E. (“Mashroey”) in connection with an EGP 407 million securitization transaction.

MBH advises Hassan Allam Construction and other affiliates on a USD 200 million facility granted by Afreximbank

20th November 2023 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the legal advisor to Hassan Allam Construction and a number of its affiliates within Hassan Allam Group in respect of a USD 200 million facility granted by the African Export-Import Bank (“Afreximbank”). This facility will fortify Hassan Allam’s expansion efforts in Africa and the Middle East. MBH represented Hassan Allam Group in respect of the transaction, reviewed the loan agreement, finance and security documentation, and negotiated these on behalf of Hassan Allam Group with Afreximbank and its legal advisor. The MBH Team advising on the transaction was led by Mahmoud Bassiouny (Regional Managing Partner and Group Head of Finance & Projects) and assisted by Iman Nassar (Senior Associate).   For more about Matouk Bassiouny, check out our website at https://matoukbassiouny.com/ For further press-related inquiries please contact Sara Afifi (sara.afifi@matoukbassiouny.com).

MBH Advises AAIB on their EGP 3.5 billion medium-term facility contract with Tatweer Misr

14th November 2023 We are pleased to announce that Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (“MBH”) acted as the legal advisor to the Arab African International Bank (“AAIB”) in respect of an EGP 1.7 billion and 1.8 billion financing granted to Tatweer Misr to cover part of the project’s construction and development costs of Bloomfields and Il Monte Galala respectively.

Matouk Bassiouny welcomes Head of Korea Desk and signs an MOU with BKL

18th September 2023 We are delighted to announce the launch of our Korea desk and the joining of Ms. Jiyoung Bae as Partner and Head of Korea Desk.

Legal Briefings

• Employees vs independent contractors under Egyptian law

  Employers often find themselves in need of hiring independent contractors to meet certain business needs. Moreover, independent contractors are generally attractive to employers, as they offer flexible working arrangements without the responsibilities that arise from hiring employees. However, as an in-house lawyer, you are always apprehensive of the risk of misclassification of contractors as employees, …

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Comparative Guides

• Egypt: Lending & Secured Finance

  Published: April 2024

  Authors: Ashraf HendiIman Nassar

  This country-specific Q&A provides an overview of Lending & Secured Finance laws and regulations applicable in Egypt.