Carlos Abou Jaoude

Carlos Abou Jaoude is the founder and managing partner of the Firm, with more than 25 years of experience working in Paris, London, Geneva, and Beirut. He is particularly renowned for his exceptional business and financial perspective on transactions, and has handled major complex cross-border deals of first impression in the region, which catapulted the Firm’s reputation to the leader in the market in M&A, banking, finance, and projects.

He sits on several boards of directors and special committees of prominent corporations and investment funds, and is often solicited by public authorities to opine on new policy and regulatory matters. Carlos is consistently recognized as a leading lawyer by prominent international directories, including Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500 and IFLR 1000. 

• Advised Bank Audi, Lebanon’s biggest bank, leading the syndicate of lenders including major international development finance institutions, on the circa US$300 Million cross-border syndicated facility to finance the first renewable (wind) energy projects in the country under the first-ever Power Purchase Agreement with the Government of Lebanon
• Advised on the multi-million acquisition of a bank in Cyprus through a complex structure involving a locked-box mechanism
• Advised a prominent Lebanese bank on the multi-million dollar issuance of preferred shares 
• Advised a major Lebanese private bank on the multi-million acquisition of a real estate company through the issuance of convertible bonds
• Advised a global leader in luxury fashion on the high-value cross-border strategic divestment to a Chinese conglomerate  
• Advised the major Danish-German BWSC/MAN Diesel consortium on two EPC contracts with the Lebanese Government for the circa Euro 270 Million reciprocating engines power projects in Lebanon
• Advised on a US$150 Million multi-jurisdictional syndicated facility led by Deutsche Bank to a telecom group;
• Advised on the pioneer multi-million multi-bank private placement to finance the launch of a television station
• Advised the Debbas Group, the industry leader in the lighting and energy sector in the Middle East, on the circa US$1 Billion Distribution and Service Provider Contract (DSP) contract for the rehabilitation and modernization of the electricity power grid in Lebanon

• Banking
• M&A
• Private equity
• Investment funds
• PPP/PFI
• Financial restructuring
• Project development

• Banking
• Financial services
• Media
• Energy
• Government and public policy
• Real estate
• Tech and telecoms

• Admitted to the Beirut Bar Association

• Member of the International Bar Association
• Member of the American Chamber of Commerce’s (AmCham) Banking & Finance Committee

• Bachelor’s Degree in Law (French and Lebanese Law), Saint Joseph University, Beirut
• Co-author of the Lebanon Chapter of the 2019 Banking Regulation guide published by Getting the Deal Through and edited by Wachtell, Lipton, Rose and Katz USA
• Co-author of the Lebanon Chapter of IFLR’s 2018 Mifid II Implementation Report
• Keynote speaker at the Euromoney Lebanon conference, and BDL Accelerate conference