Owen Richards

M&A

Advised Finergi Holdings Limited on the USD 30 million sale of its shares in the Finergi Group to a subsidiary of JSE-listed Optasia. The Finergi Group is a technology company providing real-time credit access through prepaid electricity systems in the African market, enabling customers to buy electricity on credit via mobile and repay on their next top-up. The consideration was satisfied in part through the issuance of shares in Optasia and also included an earn-out arrangement.

Advised du in connection with its AED 800 million sale of its 26% interest in Khazna Data Center Limited to Technology Holding Company LLC (a subsidiary of Mubadala).

Advised the sellers on the sale of Clarity Consulting, a leading regulatory and compliance provider in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, to Ocorian, an Inflexion-backed global compliance and fund administration specialist. Clarity delivers outsourced Compliance Officer, MLRO and Risk Officer services, as well as licence application support and training. The transaction featured a sophisticated consideration structure, with sellers receiving a combination of cash, earn-out, and a significant rolled equity stake in the enlarged group, enabling continued participation in the future growth of the business.

Advised GEMS Education in respect of a range of investments in school services businesses in the UAE and wider Middle East.

Advised Reckitt Benkiser in respect of its acquisition of a UAE OTC product distribution business and associated joint venture.

Advised Janus Continental Group on its investment in Highview Enterprises Limited, the developer of liquid air long-duration energy storage system, CRYOBattery.

Advised the Phenna Group on its acquisition of a majority stake in Thomas Bell Wright Inc a Middle East wide fire testing and façade consulting business operating.

Advised g4s plc in respect of the sale of its cash services business in the UAE to Transguard.

Advised the founding shareholders of International Electro-Mechanical Services Co LLC on the sale of 100% interest to Kinden Corporation.

Advised Blackstone on the UAE and KSA aspects of its GBP250 million acquisition of Serco’s BPO (Intelenet).

Advised Chevron on the sale of its retail and aviation fuels business in Egypt and Pakistan

Advised Dassault Aviation in respect of its acquisition of the MRO business of Execujet from Luxaviation.

Advised Al Rajhi Group on an asset exchange programme and corporate restructuring undertaken in relation to its co-investments with Egyptian private equity house Qalaa Holdings (involving investments in more than 20 portfolio companies across a range of industries).

Advised Traffic Digital in respect of its acquisition of TribalScale's Middle East operations and investment in Gravitas Digital creating the Middle East region’s largest independent digital consultancy.

Joint Ventures

Advised Polyeco Group in respect of its joint venture with Bee’ah (the Sharjah-based environmental and sustainability services provider).

Advised Fircroft in respect of its joint venture in Angola.

Advised Boral Limited on the Middle East aspects of its 50/50 joint venture with USG Corporation to form a global building materials products business.

Advised a consortium of JFE Steel Corporation and Marubeni-Itochu Steel on their joint venture with Senaat GHC to develop a $300 million steel pipe manufacturing plant in the Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi.

Advised Retail Arabia Group in respect of its joint venture with Al Hokair Group

Advised Chevron in relation to various aspects of its joint venture arrangements with ENOC in the UAE.

Advised Al Nasser Holdings LLC in relation its food and beverage sector joint venture with the Minor Food Group.

Advised Al Mansoori Specialized Engineering on various matters in relation to its joint venture Key Energy Services.

Advised STS in respect of its KSA joint venture with Aegion.

Advised Gradiant in respect of its proposed KSA joint venture in relation to seawater desalination.

Advised Fircroft Engineering Services in relation to its recruitment and manpower joint venture in KSA.

Restructuring

Advised Exterran Corporation in respect of the material restructuring of its KSA and UAE operations and go-to-market strategy.

Private Equity

Advised The Carlyle Group and the Rassam Family, a prominent Jordanian family, in respect of the sale of a majority stake in the Nabil Food Group and advising the Rassam family in relation to the disposal of a significant minority interest in their food processing business, Nabil Foods, to ADQ.

Advised Investcorp Corporate Investments, on one the MENA regions leading provider and manager of alternative investment products MENA on more than 10 completed investments and 3 full exits in the MENA region.

Advised a US Private Equity in relation to its proposed acquisition of a UAE headquartered education.

Capital Markets

Advised Calyon on the restructuring of the Damas PLC and in relation to the subsequent public to private takeover and delisting of Damas from the NASDAQ Dubai by the Mannai / EFG Hermes consortium.

Advised Ideal Holdings in respect of the acquisition by Agthia Group PJSC of a 80% stake in Nabil Foods undertaken by way of the issuance of a convertible instrument in respect of the shares in Agthia Group PJSC listed on the ADX.

Advised CITI Group and Deutsche Bank in relation to the listing of GDRs in by DAMAC Real Estate Developments on the LSE.

Advised CITI Group and Deutsche Bank in relation to the offer by DAMAC Real Estate Developments to holders of its GDR (listed on the LSE) to exchange their GDRs for shares in Damac Properties Co. PJSC (and its admission for trading on the DFM).

Advised a confidential client operating in the telecoms and media sector on its potential IPO on its potential dual listing on the DFM and NASDAQ Dubai.

Advised SHUAA Capital and Emirates NBD on the IPO and admission to trading on NASDAQ Dubai Limited of Emirates REIT (CEIC) Limited.

Advised Equitativa (AD) Limited in respect of a number of matters related to the management of Emirates REIT and Emirates Residential REIT including its regulatory obligations.

Commercial Contracts

Advised ADNOC Distribution in respect of a range of matters related to its forecourt modernisation programme.

Advised du in respect of its participation in the UAE Ministry of Interior's Hassantuk smart fire safety system initiative.

Advised du in respect of its data centre business, including its alliance agreement with Equinix, the negotiation of a number of colocation arrangements with hyper scale customers such as Microsoft and Oracle.

Advised GEMS Education in respect of a wide range of legal issues in respect of its new online learning platform, including IP ownership, data protection, platform delivery and performance, and information security.

"Owen Richards is good technically and great to work with." – Legal 500

"Owen Richards is extremely efficient and coolheaded. he was able to answer all queries of commercial and legal nature. the way in which he was able to present his point of view and counter the argument of the opponents in each and every matter was praiseworthy, as we were able to gain the confidence of the other side." – Legal 500

"Owen is a very detailed and skilled M&A lawyer who manages transactions well and goes the extra mile on ancillary matters." – Legal 500