UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Norton Rose advises managers

Managers of various companies were advised by Norton Rose on Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA) USD1 billion certificates that are due in 2018.

The managers comprised Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC, Citigroup Gloibal markets Limited, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Emirates NBD Capital Limited, Standard Chartered Bank and the The Royal Bank of Scotland as joint lead managers and Commercial Bank PJSC, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Union National Bank as co-managers.

The Norton Rose Dubai team was led by partner Mohammed Paracha and capital markets Of Counsel Alex Roussos with support from associates Faris Al Amoudi and Katie Phillips. Capital markets partner Farmida Bi and associate Sara Faraj at Norton Rose in London provided advice to Deutsche Bank as delegate.

Mohammed Paracha, partner and head of Islamic finance for the Middle East and Africa shared that the law firm acted for the managers on this significant transaction, given that the Islamic debt market has become buoyant in the Middle East. He added that due to this change, clients expect their advisors to navigate effortlessly through legal and Shariah issues along with other roles, to ensure that commercial objectives of all parties are met. Of counsel Alex Roussos, counsel, commented, “This is a very important deal for the Norton Rose capital markets practice in the region and for DEWA and Dubai as a whole. The success of the deal is a solid indicator of the great confidence investors are showing in Dubai’s future and in the fundamentals of its economy.”

Clifford Chance LLP advised DEWA and Travers Throp Alberga provided Cayman Island law advice and acted as corporate services provider to the special purpose vehicle established for the issuance.