Shalakany is consistently rated as one of the best firms in Egypt for M&A, and as a large firm it also has strong competence in finance. It is part of the Lex Mundi network....
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Shalakany is consistently rated as one of the best firms in Egypt for M&A, and as a large firm it also has strong competence in finance. It is part of the Lex Mundi network.
"They are one of the best in the Egyptian market," says a debt capital markets client. "They have a well-rounded and well-staffed operation - good understanding of the legal framework and political landscape in Egypt." "By far my preferred firm," says another, "excellent relationship and actually a good network in north Africa and the Gulf." Reports are mixed however, with some clients complaining of communication difficulties and at times an inconsistent level of service.
Senior partner Emad El Shalakany leads the M&A practice, which in October 2010 advised Madison Egypt Oil and Gas on a $6.5 billion acquisition of 50% of Dublin Egypt. Another high value deal saw the firm represent Vitol and Helios in a one year long transaction (with Skadden Arps) for the $1 billion acquisition of the majority of Shell's African downstream business.
The firm acted with Lex Mundi partner Clayton Utz for Agrium on its $1.2 billion acquisition of AWB and finally and helped Kraft Foods on a $1 billion four stage merger with Cadbury Egypt Group of Companies into Family Nutrition.
Dina Salah and Shalakany advised the underwriters, among them advising Citi Group, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Morgan Stanley on a bond issue by New Urban Communities Authority and MTN programme by the African Export-Import Bank.
In projects, Shalakany was assisting the GDF Suez/OCI consortium on the Dairut IPP (independent power producer), the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development on the Rod El Farag Axis PPP (public-private partnership) Project, and RBS' £3.9 billion sale of its Egyptian Non-Core Project Finance assets to The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
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