Baker McKenzie wins four deal awards in Egypt, Saudi Arabia

Global law firm Baker McKenzie started the new year  winning four deal awards at the Islamic Finance News (IFN) Awards 2020.

The IFN Awards are the most respected Islamic finance legal accolades that recognize the best legal firms with Islamic finance capabilities and services globally.

Awards won include:

• “Deal of the Year – Egypt” for advising Arab Company for Projects and Urban Developments, a subsidiary of Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) Holding, on the first sukuk issuance in Egypt, which is based on a Shari’ah-compliant ijara structure with a value of EGP 2 billion (USD 126.53 million). The Helmy, Hamza & Partners (Baker McKenzie, Cairo) team was led by partners Mohamed Ghannam and Lamyaa Gadelhak, counsel Mostafa El Sakaa and Senior Associate Mohamed Elharmy. We were also recently recognized as “Best Capital Markets Law Firm” by IFN for our work on this landmark deal.
• “Commodity Murabahah/Tawarruq Deal of the Year” for advising the Egyptian Government, acting through the Ministry of Finance, on the signing of a USD 2 billion syndicated financing transaction, which was the first sovereign debt that Egypt has raised from commercial lenders. Baker McKenzie’s cross-border team was led by partners Mohamed Ghannam and Lamyaa Gadelhak, counsel Victoria Long and Senior Associate Mohamed Elharmy (all from Cairo) and partner Sandeep Puri (Dubai).
• “Deal of the Year – Saudi Arabia” for acting as legal counsel to the Ministry of Finance of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on a landmark agreement signed with Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) in relation to a SAR 167.92 billion (USD 44.78 billion) mudaraba based perpetual subordinated instrument. This transaction is the world’s largest ever Islamic finance transaction. The deal was also a finalist for the “Overall IFN Deal of the Year” award.
• “Corporate Finance Deal of the Year” for the same transaction between Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance and the SEC and involving a SAR 167.92 billion (USD 44.78 billion) mudaraba based perpetual subordinated instrument. The team at Legal Advisors Abdulaziz Alajlan & Partners in association with Baker & McKenzie Limited was led by partners Ian Siddell and Nick Church and senior associate Delwar Hossain.