Butti Al Otaiba Building 13th Floor, Suite #1302 Sheikh Khalifa Street P.O. Box 2948 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates T: +971 2 627 4477 F: +971 2 626 8933

Our Established Middle East Practice

Shearman & Sterling has a longstanding presence in the Middle East. Our Abu Dhabi office was established in 1975 after more than a decade of advising clients in the region. With approximately 20 lawyers on the ground, the team works closely with colleagues throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas, providing comprehensive legal services to clients engaged in international transactions in the Middle East and around the globe.

What Do We Offer Clients?

Clients come to us for our first-rate experience in the oil and gas, power and infrastructure sectors, as well as our skills in cross-border investments and joint ventures. An overview of our services is detailed below.

• Project Development & Finance – we are currently advisingThe Dow Chemical Company in connection with its joint venture with Saudi Aramco (Sadara) to construct, finance, own and operate a US$20 billion petrochemicals production complex in Saudi Arabia. Described as “the largest industrial project in history,” Sadara is anticipated to be one of the most complex project financings ever undertaken in this sector.
  
  
• Oil & Gas – we are recognized as a market-leading oil and gas legal adviser in the Middle East, having advised on major projects such as Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s US$4 billion expansion of the ADGAS project; and on all aspects of the Dolphin gas production and pipeline project to bring gas from Qatar to the UAE.
  
  
• Construction – we advise on many large-scale and complex engineering and construction projects throughout the region, including advising the Abu Dhabi Airports Company on the development of the Abu Dhabi International Airport; and advising one of the contractors for the Abu Dhabi Louvre.
  
  
• Mergers & Acquisitions – we have advised on some of the most high-profile transactions in the region, including advising Aabar Investments PJS on its acquisition of equity interests in Galactic Venture LLC in partnership with Virgin Group and on its investment in Glencore International plc; and Mubadala Development Company PJSC in its US$2 billion investment in EBX Group of Brazil as part of a new strategic partnership. We also advised Abu Dhabi Investors on participation in Barclays Bank PLC US$10.5 billion captial raising.
  
  
• Joint ventures – we advised Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corp Limited 50:50 in its joint venture with BSkyB to establish an Arabic language news channel under the Sky News brand, based in Abu Dhabi; and Alcoa in its joint venture with Ma’aden, the state-run Saudi Arabian mining company, to build a US$10.8 billion aluminum complex in Saudi Arabia.
  
  
• Bank Finance & Restructuring – our team advises on some of the largest syndicated loan financings for governmental borrowers and on complex restructurings, such as the restructuring of Zabeel Investments, a quasi-governmental Dubai real estate and investment holding company and the restructuring of a major Kuwaiti investment holding company.
  
  
• Islamic (Shari’ah-compliant) Financing – we have advised on cutting-edge transactions such as the first power project in the Middle East that included financing from Islamic banks and the largest ever oil and gas Islamic financing. The firm has especially been at the forefront of advising on the development of Shari’ah-compliant project financings, particularly in relation to non-recourse Shari’ah finance structures used to finance major infrastructure projects in the GCC.
  
  
• International Arbitration – we regularly advise on major international arbitrations, which includes securing a legal victory for The Dow Chemical Company in a record ICC arbitral award of US$2.1 billion.
  
  
• Capital Markets – we advised Dolphin Energy Limited on its bond offerings in a combined amount of US$1.3 billion. The firm also advised Dolphin Energy on its earlier US$4.1 billion bond and loan refinancing, a landmark oil and gas financing deal for the Gulf region.