Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) is pleased to announce that United Overseas Group Ltd’s (“UOG”) acquisition of United Arab Chemical Carriers Limited (“UACC”), on which the firm advised, has been recognised by International Financial Law Review (“IFLR”), winning the award for Middle East ‘M&A Deal of the Year 2021’.
The IFLR Middle East Awards recognises the most innovative deals from across the region and the firms and lawyers behind them.
The acquisition was structured by way of a reverse triangular merger and was the first merger to be effected under the Companies Law of the Dubai International Financial Centre (the “DIFC”). WFW provided global advice on English, DIFC, Liberian and Marshall Islands laws through its offices in Athens, Dubai, New York and London.
The cross-border WFW team advising UOG included Athens Partner and Global Maritime Sector Co-Head George Paleokrassas on the financing side, supported by Senior Associate Dimitris Karamacheras and Associate Manos Pontikis; Dubai Partners Dhruv Paul and Michael Savva, supported by Associate Imran Ashgar acting as lead UAE counsel to UOG on the merger; London maritime Partner Toby Royal on the English law due diligence and maritime merger aspects, supported by Senior Associate Georg Junginger and Associate Rohan Inamdar; and New York corporate Partner Steven Hollander on the Liberian and Marshall Islands due diligence and merger aspects supported by Counsel Todd Johnson and former Associate Danny Berger.
George commented: “We are delighted that IFLR has recognised this important acquisition on which our team advised. This win highlights WFW’s expertise in advising on highly important, challenging and complex matters, and our ability to offer expert cross-border legal advice and solutions to our clients for high-value and market first corporate M&A transactions. Congratulations to everyone involved across WFW”.
Morgan Lewis Bockhius and Stephenson Harwood advised the financier and White & Case acted for the DIFC company UACC. WFW worked with law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP in advising UOG on the acquisition and other corporate elements of the project. BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates worked in parallel with WFW on the UAE and DIFC law aspects of the merger. AXIA Ventures Group Ltd acted as UOG’s financial advisor.
