Host of international firms pick up mandates on Abraaj fallout
Magic circle, UK, US and offshore firms are all involved in the long-running saga in the Middle East
January 22, 2019 at 05:21 AM
3 minute read
A raft of international law firms including Allen & Overy, DLA Piper and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have scooped advisory roles following the fall of the Middle East's biggest buyout firm Abraaj.
Allegations of misuse of money in Abraaj's $1bn healthcare fund were made last summer by investors including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, after which the fund reportedly defaulted on $1.1bn of debt.
Prior to its troubles, Abraaj was the biggest buyout fund in the Middle East and Africa, with an asset portfolio worth nearly $14bn. PwC and Deloitte were brought in to oversee liquidation of the fund's operations.
Given that negotiations are continuing, legal advisers involved are reluctant to discuss any details. But about 10 law firms have emerged as having secured mandates on the highly complex case, and several more are also involved, according to people familiar with the situation.
A&O and offshore law firm Carey Olsen are acting as liquidators for Abraaj parent company Abraaj Holdings in the Cayman Islands, alongside PwC.
The magic circle firm is fielding a team led by Middle East head of corporate Andrew Schoorlemmer in Dubai and London-based restructuring partner Joel Ferguson.
Weil is acting as the joint provisional liquidator alongside Deloitte for Abraaj Investment Management Limited, which manages the funds, with London head of restructuring Adam Plainer and private funds partner Nigel Clark leading for the US firm.
Clifford Chance is advising lenders on potential legal action that could be taken against the firm, while DLA Piper funds partner James O'Donnell is advising several active Abraaj funds.
Debevoise & Plimpton is also involved, advising one of the funds. New York partner Natasha Labovitz and London partner John Rife are leading the team.
Deals to have come out of the fund's demise include Abraaj's sale of its Latin American funds management business to US investment management firm Colony Capital, which was advised by a Skadden team led by London corporate partner Sandro de Bernardini and supported by banking partner Clive Wells and investment management partner Stephen Sims.
Scottish corporate boutique firm Dickson Minto also picked up a role for London-headquarted private equity firm Actis on its bid for management rights of Abraaj's Africa funds at the end of last year.
Habib Al Mulla, the chairman of Baker McKenzie's Middle East outpost, is defending Abraaj founder Naqvi on recent legal actions arising from the collapse of the fund.
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