Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that it intends to open an office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), one of the world’s most important new international financial centers, by the end of 2007.
"Gibson Dunn has a strong existing client base with some of the largest institutions in the Gulf region," said Ken Doran, Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. "We will staff the Dubai office to serve existing and future client demand by recruiting English and American lawyers, as well as by relocating lawyers from our European and US offices."
The Dubai office will focus on providing counsel on regional and outbound investment and financing transactions, including fund formation; mergers and acquisitions; private equity; real estate investments; corporate finance, including Sharia compliant finance; capital markets transactions; project finance; international arbitration and dispute resolution; and regulatory and compliance matters.
Washington, D.C. partner Peter Baumbusch, who has represented clients from the region for more than 30 years, will relocate to Dubai to oversee its opening and expansion. He will work closely with London partners Paul Harter and Tony Bonanno and other lawyers throughout the firm.
"We have had a Middle East practice for years. In fact, we are ranked No. 1 in Middle East M&A by value and number of deals in 2006, based on Mergermarkets reported deals involving GCC buyers, sellers or targets," said Baumbusch. "It makes sense for us to open a Dubai office. Investment activity in the Gulf states and the Middle East just continues to grow. Dubai is at the center of one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world. We expect to be up and running by end of the year, subject to DFSA approval."
About Gibson Dunn’s Middle East practice
Gibson Dunn lawyers have served a wide variety of clients in the region, including local companies, banks and family offices, U.S. and European companies doing business in the Gulf, and various government agencies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. The firm actively represents clients from, and has completed a variety of transactions related to, most countries in the Middle East. Several of the firm's partners have lived or worked as lawyers in the region and with Middle Eastern clients for more than 25 years. As a result, they have an in-depth understanding of the legal and cultural environment that is necessary for the successful completion of projects.
Gibson Dunn lawyers have been involved in numerous Islamic finance transactions, and have regularly worked with Sharia scholars to develop Sharia compliant investment structures. For example, Gibson Dunn lawyers worked with Sharia scholars to develop the Ijara lease structure which subsequently became the model for Sharia compliant leveraged real estate ownership in the U.S.; the firm advised on the design and implementation of the first Sharia compliant leveraged private equity transaction in France; and the firm has also helped structure Sharia compliant investments in leveraged private equity transactions in other European countries and the United States.
The firm has also provided advice to many Middle Eastern financial institutions, including Islamic institutions, regarding the regulations applicable to such institutions, including anti-money-laundering regulations, and has represented many of such institutions with respect to establishing and operating affiliates of such institutions in Europe and the U.S.
Other areas of the firm's commercial practice include advising on infrastructure development, financing, construction and operation; banking and finance; foreign investment; mergers and acquisitions; joint ventures; private equity transactions and fund formation; real estate; distributorship/agency agreements; offset investment ventures; defense contracts; tax; and oil and gas, including negotiation and preparation of exploration and development, royalty and production agreements, petrochemical joint ventures, pipeline contracts and major oil rights privatization issues.
In addition, the firm is recognized as one of the premier litigation firms in the world and regularly represents Middle Eastern and other clients in court (including the U.S. Supreme Court), arbitrations and other forums in connection with matters of the highest significance.