It was Allen & Overy's turn to walk triumphantly away from the 2019 IFLR Middle East Awards ceremony last night.
The firm was named international law firm of the year off the back of an exceptional performance in 2018. It was one of the big winners from the event, hosted by IFLR at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.
Allen & Overy advised on four winning deals of the year and, more impressively, pocketed team of the year trophies for its debt capital markets, project finance and restructuring teams. Other clear winners were Clifford Chance, which emerged from a competitive field of M&A transactions to clinch M&A team of the year, and Baker McKenzie, which picked up equity team of the year.
Saudi Arabia proved itself a cauldron of legal innovation, with the Arabian Centres Company IPO and Alawwal Bank and The Saudi British Bank (SABB) merger winning the equity and domestic deal of the year categories, respectively. Groundbreaking deals by UAE-based NMC Healthcare, ADNOC and Dana Gas also resulted in deal of the year wins.
On the international side, White & Case again proved itself a dominant force in the region and its work for ADNOC won the firm the M&A deal of the year award. Linklaters, Latham & Watkins, Freshfields and Ashurst also stood out, with firms such as Pinsent Masons and Covington & Burling emerging from the field to their mettle.
On the regional firm side, Al Tamimi & Company led the way, and in just reward managing partner Husam Hourani picked up managing partner of the year. ASAR - Al Ruwayeh & Partners also had a great night, being named Kuwait law firm of the year and watching the founder of its international practice, Sam Habbas, receive the 2019 lifetime achievement award.
The night also produced many deserving individual winners. General counsel of the Public Investment Fund, Shihana Alazzaz, was presented with the 2019 Women in Business Law Award. The awards also recognised individual rising stars from Clifford Chance, Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm and Matouk Bassiouny, with the last picking up rising star law firm for its new UAE firm, Matouk Bassiouny & Ibrahim.
The full list is below.
Click here for photos of the event and here for the full write up on deals, teams and firms.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Sam Habbas – ASAR - Al Ruwayeh & Partners
DEALS OF THE YEAR
Debt and equity-linked
NMC Healthcare sukuk
Allen & Overy
Linklaters
Maples Group
Equity
Arabian Centres Company IPO
Abuhimed I Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Legal Advisors Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan & Partners
M&A
ADNOC - KKR and BlackRock
Milbank
Trowers & Hamlins
White & Case
Project finance
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park Phase IV
Allen & Overy
Al Tamimi & Company
Ashurst
Covington & Burling
Pinsent Masons
Restructuring
Dana Gas restructuring
Allen & Overy
Al Tamimi & Company
Latham & Watkins
Norton Rose Fulbright
Squire Patton Boggs
Domestic
Alawwal Bank / The Saudi British Bank (SABB)
Abuhimed Alsheikh & Alhagbani Law Firm
Allen & Overy
Baker McKenzie
Clifford Chance
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Koshaim & Associates
Linklaters
Slaughter and May
TEAMS OF THE YEAR
Debt and equity-linked
Allen & Overy
Equity
Baker McKenzie
M&A
Clifford Chance
Project finance
Allen & Overy
Restructuring
Allen & Overy
NATIONAL WINNERS
Bahrain
Zu'bi & Partners Attorneys & Legal Consultants
Egypt
Zulficar & Partners
Iraq
Confluent Law Group
Jordan
Ali Sharif Zu'bi Advocates & Legal Consultants
Kuwait
ASAR - Al Ruwayeh & Partners
Lebanon
Abou Jaoude & Associates Law Firm
Oman
Al Busaidy Mansoor Jamal & Co
Qatar
Simmons & Simmons
Saudi Arabia
Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm
UAE
Al Tamimi & Company
INDIVIDUAL WINNERS
IFLR Women in Business Law
Shihana Alazzaz – Public Investment Fund
WIBL Hall of fame past winners: Lubna Qassim (2018), Caroline Kehoe (2017), Louise Flanagan (2016), Debbie Walker (2015, 2014), Roberta Calarese (2013)
Managing partner of the year
Husam Hourani – Al Tamimi & Company
Rising stars
Rizwan Butt – Clifford Chance
Deniz Tas – Clifford Chance
Hannan Hassanain – Abuhimed Alsheikh Alhagbani Law Firm
Nadia Abdallah – Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy
BANK AND FIRM AWARDS
International law firm of the year
Allen & Overy
In-house team of the year
Standard Chartered Bank
Islamic bank of the year
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
Pro bono firm of the year
White & Case
Rising star law firm of the year
Matouk Bassiouny & Ibrahim
