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Practice Areas :
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Practice
:
Islamic Finance
Patton Boggs is at the forefront of international law firms working in the complex field of Shariah-compliant finance and investment. Attorneys in the firm’s Middle East and Business practices, including attorneys in the firm’s Doha and Abu Dhabi offices and resident in Dubai, work together to develop strategies to assist our clients with transactions and financings that comply with Islamic law.
Our experience includes dealings with all the major forms of Islamic finance and investing, including murabaha, mudaraba, mu’ajjal, salaam, istis’na, ijara and ju’ala, as well as with the issuance of sukuk (corporate bonds). Our Islamic finance attorneys have served as counsel to a number of Shariah-compliant investment funds and capital providers for businesses controlled by such funds on a broad range of projects. On the regulatory side, our lawyers have advised in government-to-government negotiations intended to expand the range of Islamic banking products and services available in the United States.
Notably, Patton Boggs was honored as a finalist for the “Best Islamic Finance Law Firm” at the Islamic Business and Finance Awards in Dubai in December 2007 – one of very few non-Middle East-based institutions to qualify as a finalist in any category for the awards which celebrate corporate and individual excellence in the global Islamic finance industry.
Representative Matters
- FINALIST FOR “BEST ISLAMIC FINANCE LAW FIRM” 2007 – ISLAMIC BUSINESS AND FINANCE AWARDS IN DUBAI Represented lenders to issuers of sukuks for large-scale development projects, including a $270 million sukuk to finance major property development and an $85 million sukuk for the construction of a large hotel in Qatar.
- QATAR DEAL OF THE YEAR 2007 – ISLAMIC FINANCE NEWS Represented Qatar Real Estate Investment Company (Alaqaria) in the first rated sukuk (A2 Moodys/BBB+Fitch) for a Qatari corporate entity as part of Alaqaria’s continuous use of the sukuk markets to fund its development business.
- ISLAMIC FINANCE DEAL OF THE YEAR 2005 – PROJECT FINANCE MAGAZINE
Represented financiers in a $1 billion Islamic finance facility for a major Middle Eastern energy group as part of the financing for a pipeline project to deliver natural gas from Qatar to the United Arab Emirates and Oman – at the time this was the largest Shariah-compliant transaction in the oil and gas sector.
- Represented lessor in Shariah-compliant aircraft lease financing.
- Represented lead lender in connection with an $850 million syndicated finance facility for the refinance of significant real estate assets in Qatar. The financing was comprised of Islamic tranches structured through an ijara and murabaha and conventional financing.
- Assisted leading Qatar Islamic Bank in connection with the acquisition of an equity interest in a £2 billion real estate development project in London.
- Represented syndicated lenders in structuring the security package for a $225 million financing of a multi-use real estate development in Qatar that was documented using a murabaha.
- Represented clients obtaining construction financing for major real estate developments in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.
- Counsel for the establishment of an Islamic bank.
- Counsel for the establishment of an Islamic Finance Company.
- Counsel for the creation of Shariah-compliant investment funds for international investors.
- Represented Qatar financial institution in connection with a $60 million Islamic financing of a private multi-specialty hospital in Qatar.
- Represented a lender providing multifaceted energy project financing, including, at the time, the largest energy project finance transaction ever undertaken and which combined discrete Islamic finance, Export Credit Agency, and commercial financing aspects.
- Represented a lender providing acquisition and working capital financing, including the investment of $150 million in multi-tranche subordinated and junior debt utilizing murabahas for a light manufacturing company.
- Represented a lender providing acquisition financing, including the investment of $23 million subordinated debt investment in a low-end retailer that was documented using a murabaha.
- Represented a lender providing acquisition and working capital financing, including the investment of $106 million in multi-tranche subordinated and junior debt utilizing murabahas for a dental services company.
- Represented several export credit agencies (including the Export-Import Bank of the United States) and commercial bank lenders in a $12 billion financing of the Qatargas 2 project (with two large 7.8 million ton/year LNG production trains), including a $700 million Islamic finance tranche, at the time the largest LNG project finance transaction ever closed.
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