Team size: 5

Nadim Elias El Haj has served as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel in major government, semi-government and private real estate development/hospitality groups in the UAE over more than two decades of work on groundbreaking projects.

He took on lead roles in negotiating and closing mega transactions in the real estate development and hospitality industries in the UAE including the successful negotiation and closing of AED 2.2 B acquisition of five hotel assets in Downtown Burj Khalifa from Emaar Hospitality Group in 2019.

He is a passionate of the hospitality industry and in 2020 successfully completed a “Real Estate Hotel Investments & Asset Management Program” at Cornell University.

He was featured as part of The Legal 500 GC Powerlist Middle East for the years 2019 and 2022.

He was recently re-hired by ADNH in support to its ambitious expansion plan to the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

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

Initial public offering of 40% share equity in ADNH Catering PLC (an ADGM holding company with subsidiaries in the UAE and KSA), the no. 1 catering group in the UAE, and a major regional player in the catering sector, for a consideration of circa 900m Dirhams. The IPO closed on 23rd October 2024 and was executed in a record five month period from start to finish.

Negotiation and execution of the franchise and residential agreements relating to The Luxury Collection branded mixed-use (hotel and residences) project to be developed by ADNH on Al Marjan Island, a circa 1000 keys project in terms of hotel rooms and branded luxury residences at a multi-billion dirhams investment cost. It will be ADNH’s first mega project in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah as part of ADNH’s expansion strategy in the UAE following ADNH’s acquisition of five luxury hotels from Emaar Hospitality in Downtown Burj Khalifa in 2019, a deal valued then at 2.2bn Dirhams.

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 have adopted a soft structure at the level of the legal department of ADNH, with a team totaling 5 legal professionals, while empowering the team to deliver on transactional and contentious matters in order to cater to ADNH’s ongoing operational needs and allowing me to focus on the steering, negotiation, and execution of strategic deals for ADNH in order to roll out its expansion strategy in the UAE, the region, and at a global scale. Such a flexible structure aligns with the agile structure across all departments in ADNH, which drives financial operational efficiency across the Group thus weathering any downturns in the hospitality market.

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

One particular experience I have encountered relates to executing the Downtown Burj Khalifa Emaar hotels acquisition deal in 2019 in a reverse-engineered manner by negotiating the acquisition agreements while carrying out the due diligence with the assistance of external legal counsel, thus live feeding any material matters identified in the due diligence into the negotiation and execution of the definitive agreements within a record three month period – from inception to closing – of such a multi-billion dirhams strategic deal for ADNH.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

The most important attributes for the next era of in-house lawyers are having financial/business acumen and emotional intelligence. In one word, it is about going out from your comfort zone and focusing on what matters when negotiating strategic deals, while understanding the value of time in terms of closing deals related to strategic assets under tight timelines in order to secure the Group’s spot in a very competitive business landscape.