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Leading Saudia Arabian firm Abdulaziz H. Al Fahad & Partners Lawyers (Al Fahad & Partners) joined King & Spalding in Riyadh in 2025, bringing together King & Spalding’s global experience and platform with Al Fahad & Partners’ deep Saudi experience to offer clients local and international capabilities across the full spectrum of Saudi-related transactions and disputes.
With more than two dozen fee earners, the majority of whom are Saudi Arabian nationals, King & Spalding Al Fahad focuses on longstanding strengths of both historical firms covering key practices including corporate, finance, energy and real estate in addition to Islamic finance, funds, construction, projects, M&A, restructuring and dispute resolution.
Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions. King & Spalding has a long history of working on market-setting corporate/M&A transactions across the Middle East as well as significant outbound investments. Our team is extremely versatile and handles complex and cross border strategic investments and other transactions, with Legal 500 stating the firm often works with “top-end clients from a variety of sectors” to “handle complex deals”.
Energy & Infrastructure Projects and Construction. Applauded in Legal 500 for it “commercial application of legal issues”, our team is well-established on leading the advice for major projects, as well as infrastructure and renewable energy developments. The team handles all aspects of local and international project financings under English law and New York law, with extensive experience working on elements that involve local law in the UAE and many other jurisdictions. Our project finance work covers all of the UAE’s economic sectors, including energy, power, infrastructure and PPPs and increasingly energy transition. Chambers states that the team “possesses a wealth of experience” in conventional and renewable energy mandates and regularly assists with build-operate-transfer financings.
Real Estate and Hospitality. The Middle East Real Estate Practice is at the forefront in guiding our clients through the array of complex issues required to navigate the full life cycle of transactions and investments. Whether structuring and fundraising, acquisition, development, turnaround or disposition, the team has a strong list of clients spanning developers, financial institutions, investors, REITs and other private equity funds. We adopt an industry-focused multi-disciplinary approach to real estate, allowing up to draw on various disciplines across our international platform to execute the most complex transactions, irrespective of the asset class.
Banking & Finance, including Islamic Finance. King & Spalding’s “highly capable” team has led on structuring many of the Middle East region’s trailblazing Shariah-compliant loans and investments, ranging from corporate finance, mezzanine finance, project finance, real estate finance and restructuring and refinancings. Our “significant expertise” in Islamic real estate financing and investment mandates has seen our lawyers “continue to grow their reputation for advising on innovative deals involving clients based in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE”, according to Chambers. Legal 500 observes the practice has an “impressive track record in unique transactions”, covering finance and restructuring, often receiving instructions from “industry heavyweights”.
Investment Funds and Asset Management. Our funds team enjoys top tier rankings in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 off the back of a stellar portfolio in structuring complex, cross-border Shariah-compliant transactions that chimes with our wider financial services experience. Described as “a premier team with longstanding expertise in the investment funds arena” by Chambers, lawyers within the group are noted for their strong expertise in venture capital, private equity and real estate funds as well general and limited partners. Legal 500 highlights our “comprehensive advice, especially for offshore structuring and local laws” and as having “enviable list of financial sponsors and asset managers…for a wide array of sector investors”.
Venture Capital and Emerging Companies, and Fintech. King & Spalding’s Tier 1 Chambers & Partners’ ranking highlights our cross-border work, especially relating to Saudi Arabia, alongside fund formation and M&A, venture capital investments, exits, fund-raising rounds and corporate structuring requirements. Our team’s “proven expertise” and “extensive experience advising on transactions relating to start-up companies in the tech and retail spaces” in the Middle East has helped secured representation of fund sponsors to establish vehicles in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), and offshore.
International Arbitration and Commercial Litigation. As part of the firm’s market-leading International Arbitration practice (ranked number 1 in the GAR 30 in recent years), the Middle East team “leverages its considerable international network to handle multi-jurisdictional disputes, with a specialism in financial services, energy and construction cases”, according to Legal 500. reinforces this global reputation by providing our regional and international clients with a Middle East-based team whose reach extends across the MENA region and beyond. This includes advocacy in both court litigation and arbitration.
