DLA Piper launches Middle East Tax Practice

DLA Piper has strengthened its International Tax practice with the appointment of Ton van Doremalen as partner and head of tax in the Middle East. Doremalen will join the firm’s Dubai office on December 3, 2017.

Doremalen joins from Withers Middle East, where he was advising on cross-border tax structuring work for United Arab Emirates-based private equity firms and family offices, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) based sovereign wealth funds and corporate groups. His experience includes outbound tax advisory work relating to (M&A) transactions in Europe, Africa, the US and Asia, as well as to projects in the GCC (e.g. Saudi Arabia) and the wider Middle East (e.g. Egypt). Doremalen also works for overseas corporate clients on their Gulf / Middle East inbound transactions, projects and company set-ups. Recently, he has also been involved with local tax advice, in particular relating to the upcoming introduction of VAT in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Doremalen has over 16 years’ of experience focussing on international tax structuring using jurisdictions such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the UK and the UAE.

 Roderik Bouwman, DLA Piper’s global co-chair, tax, commented, “We are delighted to have Ton on board as the founder of DLA Piper’s Middle Eastern tax practice, at a time of highly anticipated tax changes and regulation in the Middle East. Ton is widely respected within the industry and brings energy, business acumen and an entrepreneurial spirit to the role. We look forward to working with him to support our clients with their tax needs both regionally and indeed globally.”

Doremalen’s appointment follows an active year for DLA Piper’s tax group. In August, DLA Piper launched a Tax practice in South Africa, appointing Andrew Lewis as a tax director in Johannesburg, in the wake of the appointment of Ben Brown to partner within the London Tax team in July. Earlier this year, the firm strengthened its Italian Tax team, appointing Andrea Di Dio as the new head of tax based in the Rome office, and welcomed two new transfer pricing directors, Clive Jie-A-Joen and Rachit Agarwal, based in Amsterdam and London, to the International Transfer Pricing team.

It also follows a successful year for DLA Piper’s Middle East practice, which in May was named International Law Firm of the Year at the Middle East Legal Awards 2017. Doremalen will be the sixth partner to join the practice in 2017, following the relocation of George Barboutis from the firm’s London office in June and the announcement of four partner promotions in May.

Peter Somekh, regional managing partner, said, “I am delighted to welcome Ton to our Dubai office. The last year has seen us further consolidate our already strong presence in the Middle East. We see the creation of a dedicated Tax practice as invaluable as the region continues to develop as a major international business hub, with Ton’s arrival further reinforcing our ongoing commitment to delivering clients a full-service local offering.”