Expertise
James is a Partner in the Dubai corporate practice, advising large corporates, sovereign and government-related entities, family-offices, founder shareholders, financial institutions and private equity houses on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and shareholders' arrangements, disposals, minority investments and corporate reorganisations across the UAE and the wider GCC. James's practice is deliberately sector-agile but includes depth and expertise in the education, retail and consumer, and real estate sectors and covers advising on local transactions in the UAE as well as large cross-border transactions. He also has significant experience running high-volume, bolt-on acquisition programmes for large corporates.
James has completed two client secondments in the M&A team of a global schools operator, giving him a valuable in-house perspective to supplement his extensive transactional experience. He is very client oriented and clients value his style that pairs technical expertise and rigour with pragmatic and commercial judgment: he is able to understand where risk genuinely sits and presses hard on these points, whilst also delivering pragmatic solutions to ensure transactions proceed to completion.
James trained and qualified into Addleshaw Goddard's Leeds Corporate team before relocating to the Dubai office, where he was promoted to Partner.
- Experience
- Advised BlueFive Capital on its acquisition of a 49% stake in Massar Solutions from Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA Group), and on the related joint venture and shareholders' arrangements with Solutions+ (a Mubadala company).
- Advised BlueFive Capital on its acquisition of a 49% stake in Leaseplan Emirates from Ayvens, and on the related joint venture and shareholders' arrangements with Solutions+ (a Mubadala company).
- Advised the founder shareholder and chief executive officer of Kids First Group on the partial sale of his interest in KFG to DFM-listed Taaleem, and on his concurrent rollover and shareholding arrangements with Taaleem. KFG operates 34 nurseries across the UAE and Qatar with over 5,000 students; Taaleem acquired a 95% controlling stake for circa AED 975 million.
- Advised Julphar Pharmaceuticals (ADX-listed) on the disposal of its UAE and Omani retail and distribution pharmacy businesses.
- Advised the shareholders of Royal Catering on the sale of the entire issued share capital of Royal Catering to ADNEC Group. Royal Catering is an Abu Dhabi-based catering services provider serving 50,000 meals per day.
- Advised the selling shareholders of Transcorp, a cold chain logistics business, on its disposal to Elite Co.
- Advised the founders of Bureau Beatrice on the sale to The Independents.
- Advised CedarBridge Capital Partners on the USD 110 million sale of the entire issued share capital of The Grooming Company to Multiply Group. The Grooming Company is a prominent player in the retail and beauty industry.
- Advised Cognita on its strategic partnership to enter the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman and Qatar.
- Advised DP World on joint ventures in Oman, Nigeria and Pakistan.
- Advised ASCA Capital on its minority acquisition of, and shareholding arrangements in relation to, Squatwolf.
- Advised Cognita on its acquisition of part of Dasman Bilingual School in Kuwait.
- Advised Otium Capital on its investment in, and joint venture arrangements in relation to, a gifts business in the DIFC.
- Advised Cognita on its strategic partnership in respect of the three Repton schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
- Advised Al Waha Land LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Waha Capital, on the AED 530 million disposal of integrated logistics assets at the AlMarkaz Industrial Park, Al Dhafra, Abu Dhabi, to Aldar.
- Advised the selling shareholders on the disposal of ServiceMarket to e&.
- Advised Transmed on several minority acquisitions and shareholding arrangements in relation to food and beverage businesses in the UAE.
- Advised Kids First Group on the acquisition of several nursery groups to build out its portfolio.
- Advised Enerflex (formerly Exterran) on a range of day-to-day corporate matters in the UAE.
- Advised Samworth Brothers on its disposal of its desserts business, Blueberry Foods, to Bakkavor.
- Advised LDC on its investment in NBS alongside The Royal Institute of British Architects and members of the management team.
- Advised the selling shareholders on the sale of recruitment sector business de Poel to Bain Capital.
- Advised the shareholders of Go Outdoors (including 3i and YFM) on the GBP 112 million sale to JD Sports.
- Advised the selling shareholders of Symington's (including ICG) on the sale to Newlat Food.
- Advised M.K.M and its shareholders on a secondary MBO backed by Bain Capital.
- Advised the selling shareholders of direct-to-consumer energy drink business Sneak Energy on the majority investment by UK private equity house, True Capital.
- Advised SGG (funded by Astorg Partners) on the acquisition of multi-jurisdictional fund administration business Augentius.
- Advised Simplyhealth and the Broker Network on high-volume multiple acquisition programmes.
- Recognitions
Leading Associate – Legal 500
- Testimonials
''James Whittam - exceptional.'' – Legal 500, 2026
‘'James Whittam and Luke Aylett have effectively maintained the momentum of any workstream they assisted us on and showed unconditional responsiveness to the requirements of the whole process. All of them showed strength in technical legal ability and managing projects. They also have excellent communication and people skills and are always supportive. Finally, needless to say that we have always found Addleshaw team members to be honest, trustworthy persons and lawyers of high integrity, both personally and professionally.’' – Legal 500, 2025
''I have worked with both James and Luke for several years and have always found them to be trusted advisers of the highest integrity. They are highly professional, commercially astute, responsive and an absolute pleasure to work with. I trust them completely and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone undertaking a complex corporate transaction.'' – Founder and CEO of Kids First Group
'‘James Whittam and Luke Aylett are just great. Always getting the point and delivering great products.’' – Legal 500, 2025
‘'James Whittam, Lowri Llwyd and Lauren Scott all deliver the qualities we want in legal counsel.'' – Legal 500, 2026
''James Whittam, Rachael Norris and Lauren Scott are all superstars, incredibly dedicated to transactions and great at building client relationships throughout the business. They see problems from every angle and come back with well-considered commercial solutions.'’ – Legal 500, 2026
''Luke and James were exceptional throughout. They demonstrated outstanding technical expertise, guided me through every stage of the transaction with clarity and confidence, and ensured that every detail was carefully considered. Their drafting was thorough, precise and commercially practical, making even the most complex issues easy to understand and navigate.'' – Founder and CEO of Kids First Group
