Dentons expands Middle East network with ninth office in region

Denton Wilde Sapte is set to launch an office in Bahrain next month after securing its licence to practise in the country at the end of January.

Dubai-based corporate partner Paul Davies and finance partner Christopher Aylward will relocate to Bahrain to spearhead the office, with Aylward taking on the managing partner role for the new office. Two associates are set to follow for the launch.

The office, which the firm expects to open in mid-March, will give Dentons its ninth base in the Middle East, including four associations.

Dentons has 157 lawyers in its Middle East practice, including 31 partners, and hopes to grow the new Bahrain base to around 10 lawyers within the first two years.

Initially, the office will focus on finance work but the top 20 UK law firm is also hoping to tap into dispute resolution opportunities in the country in the future, following the recent launch of a Bahrain arbitration centre. Dentons said the launch was prompted by demand from around 20 existing clients.

Dentons Middle East managing partner Neil Cuthbert said: "While Bahrain has been on our map for some time, the time is now right for us to open there. It is an important finance centre in the Middle East region, and in the current time it will be interesting to see if it can further reclaim its position against Dubai."

Davies added: "This is the only Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) country where we are not present. We have previously had a lot of contacts and clients there and, for me personally, having done plenty of work there over the years, the relocation is the natural next step for my practice."

Dentons already has offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Muscat, as well as association offices in Amman, Cairo, Kuwait and Riyadh. The firm is also expanding its Abu Dhabi office with lawyers from Dubai. It relocated Dubai corporate partner Dean Alderton in December and he will soon be joined by Dubai banking partner Udayan Mukherjee.