Banking and finance

Helmy, Hamza & Partners (member firm of Baker & McKenzie International)

Helmy, Hamza & Partners (member firm of Baker & McKenzie International)’s team brings expertise across multiple areas, including project finance, restructuring, structured finance, trade finance, securitisation and regulatory compliance. Recently, the team advised the International Finance Corporation on an inaugural gender-focused investment from an Egyptian state-owned financial institution. The team is co-led by managing partners Mohamed Ghannam and Lamyaa Gadelhak. Ghannam is renowned for advising multinational corporations on high-value and precedent-setting transactions, while Gadelhak specializes in project financing and regulatory matters. Another key contact is Mohamed Elharmy, who is lauded for his ‘outstanding knowledge in the banking sector’ and is a go-to adviser on local and cross-border financing related to projects, real estate, acquisitions and assets.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘What makes the team different is the sense of ownership and the ability to figure out and handle any conflict smoothly.' they are highly skilled and well-educated staff with ease of accessibility and prompt reply.’
‘Mohamed Elharmy is well-educated and extremely professional when it comes to industry knowledge and risk assessment and seeing potential future conflicts and ways to mitigate it in advance through proper handling of issues rather than skipping them. He is recommended as the first choice for all cases handled by my team.’
‘They have a diversified team with different areas of expertise, hence they always manage to respond to any queries raised after reverting internally to the relevant person. Also, they have a very reliable archiving system; which facilitates the accessibility of data especially for long lead project finance transactions.’
‘They are available and reachable. They are on the clock & perform the tasks required on time. They always manage to meet the target dates. They always provide the necessary technical support.
‘Excellent expertise in the banking sector.'
‘Mohamed Elharmy has outstanding knowledge in the banking sector.’
‘Professional, business-oriented, know what the client precisely wants, and do their most efforts to maintain its sake.'
‘Professional, hard workers, well-educated, having various and wide experience.'

Key clients

African Development Bank
African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim Bank)
Ahli United Bank (Uk) Plc
African Development Bank
Alex Bank S.A.E
Arab African International Bank (AAIB)
Arab Banking Corporation
Arab International Bank
Attijariwafa Bank
Bank Of America Merrill Lynch
Banque Du Caire
Banque Misr
Baraka For Trade & Investment
BLOM Bank SAL
Central Bank of Egypt
HSBC Bank
Hutchison Ports Europe Ltd
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Marakez Delta For Real Estate Projects
MASHREQBANK PSC
MIDBank
MUFG Bank
National Bank Of Egypt
Orascom Development Egypt (ODE)
Rand Merchant Bank
Rawasy For Urban Development S.A.E
SAYACORP B.S.C
Scotiabank (Hong Kong) Limited
The Egyptian Ministry Of Finance
The Sovereign Fund of Egypt

Work highlights

Acted as lender's counsel for International Finance Corporation (IFC) in respect of a $234 m facilities agreement with Banque Misr SAE, aimed at bolstering its lending capacity to qualified sub-borrowers.
Acted as lenders' legal counsel to Giza Systems and VAS Integrated Solution, in connection with facilitating a dual-currency financing arrangement that included a tranche valued at $84m and an Egyptian Pound tranche worth EGP 2.82bn.
Acting for two lending groups out of four groups in connection with the complex restructuring of Ever Grow's debt, including the refinancing and restructuring of 24 bilateral facilities, coupled with the provision of new working capital finance.

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