Team Size: 7

What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months?

To begin with, the formation of Gridora Platform with ADQ and Mod. I led legal structuring and negotiations for Gridora Platform, a sovereign-backed infrastructure investment platform between IHC, ADQ, and Modon. The project involved multi-stakeholder governance design, JV frameworks, and sovereign coordination. Also, the formation of MENA’s Largest Independent Investment Manager Lunate – JV with ADQ & ADG. I assisted in the legal negotiation and structuring of a joint venture between IHC, ADQ, and ADG to establish Lunate, the largest independent investment manager in the MENA region, with over USD$ 110bn. in assets currently under management. The platform is designed to manage shareholder and third-party capital across asset classes including private equity, venture capital, credit, and public markets. I supported drafting JV documentation, reviewing fund management structures, and coordinating compliance requirements with UAE regulatory authorities. Furthermore, I supported the legal structuring of IHC’s cross-border share-swap transaction with Grupo Sura and Grupo Argos, which resulted in IHC acquiring a 2.45% direct stake and an effective 14.83% interest in Colombian food giant Grupo Nutresa. This was the largest capital markets transaction in Colombia and the deal, with an approximate impact of USD$ 1.23 bn., involved navigating Colombian securities regulations, preparing transaction documentation, and coordinating with external counsel across multiple jurisdictions to ensure compliance with disclosure and tender requirements.

Regarding the establishment and planned listing of TwoPointZero Holding Company, I supported the formation of TwoPointZero, IHC’s, new AED 100+ bn. asset holding entity. I managed the structuring, carve-out, and integration of workstreams for sector realignment and regulatory clarity across jurisdictions. I am also supporting the legal preparations for TwoPointZero’s planned listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) by the end of 2025, including corporate structuring, listing-readiness assessments, and coordination with relevant regulatory authorities. The listing marks a significant milestone in unlocking public capital for IHC’s sector focused platforms.

On the launch of RiQ Reinsurance Platform, I advised and supported the setup of RiQ, a reinsurance platform launched with BlackRock and Lunate. Structured a 10-year strategic alliance anchored by USD$ 500m. in premium allocation, focused on AI-native risk solutions across IHC group companies. Based in ADGM, this transaction positioned Abu Dhabi as a reinsurance innovation hub.

For the acquisition and Rebranding of eFunder to Zelo, I managed IHC’s acquisition of fintech platform eFunder which included conducting detailed due diligence and negotiation of transaction documents, followed by rebranding of eFunder as Zelo. Covered licensing, digital contracts, dealings with ADGM FSRA, and post-merger compliance with a focus on SME lending and financial innovation.

I also managed the legal execution for the $80m majority stake acquisition in Emircom, a leading ICT solutions provider. Involved complex SPA drafting, shareholder frameworks, and regulatory coordination.

For the mining Acquisition by IRH, I supported IHC’s subsidiary International Resources Holding (IRH), with its strategic acquisition of a 51% stake in Zambia’s Mopani Cooper Mines for USD$ 1.1 bn. , one of Africa’s most critical copper producers.

Regarding the strategic Mineral Exploration JV in Balochistan, Pakistan, I provided legal support on the structuring and documentation of a landmark joint venture signed in March 2025 between International Resources Holding (IRH) and Mari Energies, BMRL, and the Government of Balochistan. The agreement granted IRH a 50% + 1 share interest in two key exploration licenses (EL302 & EL303) in Chagai, Balochistan. My responsibilities included drafting and reviewing framework agreement, JV agreement, shareholders’ agreement, coordinating with local counsel, and managing legal due diligence in a transaction that attracted sovereign-level support and significant FDI into Pakistan’s mining sector.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on, of which you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful?

The accelerated integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in general and AI-led decision systems has been the most transformative trends reshaping the legal and corporate landscape. AI is rapidly moving from being a support function to a strategic enabler across all industries, and I believe it is impacting every aspect of the legal and corporate world. I can see the adoption of AI for underwriting, supply chain forecasting, contract lifecycle management, and support for significant high-value transactions.

In the legal industry, this creates new opportunities as well as challenges around governance, allocation of liability, intellectual property protection, and regulatory alignment, especially in multi-jurisdictional settings.

At IHC, we are not only monitoring this trend, but we are shaping it. In 2024, IHC became the first company in the world to appoint an AI entity “Aiden”, as a Board observer. This move by IHC signaled a fundamental shift in how businesses engage with technology at the highest levels of decision-making. This inclusion of Aiden has already begun to influence how we evaluate performance, forecast risk, and align strategy across all verticals. For in-house lawyers, we have set a powerful precedent that we must now prepare to draft, interpret, and negotiate with AI-augmented governance frameworks.

Our legal team has been spearheading the development of Aleria, a proprietary, AI-powered legal tool being tailored in-house to enhance speed, accuracy, and consistency across contract review, risk flagging, drafting of corporate documents, management of overall legal files. Aleria is not an automation layer, it is being built by lawyers, for lawyers, with modules designed to assist with complex deal support, jurisdiction specific compliance, and internal policy alignment across our group companies, as well as all legal challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis.

Alongside AI transformation, other critical legal trends I am actively tracking include heightened scrutiny of cross-border structures and anticipated uptick in global M&A activity, especially in light of shifting U.S. regulatory policy. In short, legal teams that embrace AI fluency, global agility, and deal-readiness will define the next chapter of corporate legal leadership.

These developments signal that the traditional role of legal counsel is fundamentally redefined. For in-house lawyers across the region and beyond, I believe it is crucial to stay ahead of these shifts, not just reactively, but as proactive drivers of change in both legal set-up and corporate governance.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

I view periods of crises as test of not only the strength of an organisation’s operations, but also the clarity, agility, and strategic alignment of its legal function. My approach has always been to manage such periods with clam focus, clear communication, and an all-hands-on-deck mindset ensuring that our legal strategy remains tightly integrated with the broader business objectives of IHC.

One of the most defining examples of this was during the COVID-19 pandemic. At IHC, rather than retreating in the face of this global instability, we doubled down on community support, innovation, and rapid expansion, and our legal team was central to delivering on this mission. I I joined IHC during this period, and I had the opportunity to directly support several time sensitive initiatives that required legal precision, regulatory clarity, and commercial agility under pressure.

IHC swiftly launched healthcare testing and medication centers, supported vaccine distribution across the Middle East and Africa, and provided massive-scale testing infrastructure across the UAE. Each of these initiatives required urgent but watertight legal support including cross-border procurement contracts, JV agreements, regulatory filings, emergency supplier and distribution agreements, partnership MOUs, and compliance clearance in unfamiliar jurisdictions.

Despite being a lean legal team at the time, we executed dozen of contracts, structured new SPVs, and worked in coordination with health authorities and internal stakeholders. The speed and complexity of these tasks were unlike anything we had faced before and yet our strategy was simply to stay aligned with the purpose, protect the company, and enable execution without delay.

One project I am particularly proud of is our legal team’s role in supporting the development and rollout of EDE scanners, a UAE based innovation used to detect COVID-19 infections using AI and electromagnetic waves. We had to engage with health authorities in the UAE to procure regulatory approvals, coordinate with free zone authorities to set-up legal structures, ensure proper protection of intellectual property, all while balancing the interests of our JV partners. The scanner went on to be authorised for public use, and it was a reminder that the legal function doesn’t just mitigate risk, it enables innovation during crises.

Beyond global events, we also face internal periods of instability which include tight transaction deadlines, simultaneous closings, new regulatory shifts, or multiple high-stakes deals running in parallel. In those moments, I take a collaborative, no silos approach, often working with colleagues from finance, commercial, investments, and strategy teams.