Formed in April 2010, Mohammed A Al-Sheikh and Latham and Watkins association has reaped almost immediate dividends. Market feedback is unanimously positive, with lawyers and clients saying Latham made an astute move stepping in to White & Case's (Al-Sheikh's former partners) shoes....
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Formed in April 2010, Mohammed A Al-Sheikh and Latham and Watkins association has reaped almost immediate dividends. Market feedback is unanimously positive, with lawyers and clients saying Latham made an astute move stepping in to White & Case's (Al-Sheikh's former partners) shoes. Described as one of the best on the Saudi market by peers and clients, Al-Sheikh has been active across all practice areas. Of the partner one lawyer says: "We deal with him a lot, he is a very experienced lawyer. After a few ruffles he's doing quite well now. He's underbid me on a few deals. He's a very nice guy and a good lawyer." While a client says: "Mohammed is an excellent lawyer, he's definitely a tier one lawyer. The good thing about Mohammed is he's seen a lot of cases so he talks to you from experience. We do a lot with him on debt and we also do a lot with him on IPOs. He's certainly one of the best lawyers in the market."
The firm moves up a tier in banking and project finance in recognition of a solid 12 months, a number of recommendations from peers and solid client feedback.
Project finance head Craig Nethercott, who moved to the Middle East from London in 2011, has collaborated with Al-Sheikh on all the firm's significant project finance and banking work.
On the projects side, the pair represented Industry & Commercial Investment Company as project sponsor of an SR2.1 billion ($559 million) financing of a tubular steel factory in Jubail in February 2011. The firm's largest deal saw it involved in the Saudi Electricity Company's 1,730 MW gas-fired independent power project in Riyadh. It advised the banks in relation to the $2 billion project financing, which closed in June 2010 and is the second of three projects procured by the sponsor.
In the banking sector the firm closed two substantial Islamic deals in July 2010. The firm advised the Arabian Centres Company in refinancing an existing SR4.1 billion facility it held with a syndicate of banks via a murabaha (deferred sale) and tawarruq (asset sale and deferred payment) facility. Similarly, the firm acted for Trade Centre Company on refinancing its SR700 million debt via a murabaha and tawarruq facility.
With the equity markets quiet, the firm has only been active on the debt side. Al-Sheikh advised the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) on it's first debt issuance of SR2 billion notes due 2015, which closed in October 2010.
On the part of the joint arrangers, JPMorgan and HSBC, the firm also advised on Bank AlJazira's SR1 billion sukuk (Islamic bond) due 2021 with a step up in margin in 2016. The sukuk will qualify as Tier II capital of the Issuer for Saudi regulatory purposes and was the first debt issuance by the bank.
On the corporate side the firm are active for a number of international clients establishing joint ventures but at the time of publishing all these deal remain confidential.
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