Winner: Clifford Chance
Clifford Chance beat off the competition in Islamic finance legal advisory again this year. Allen & Overy put up a good effort, advising on deals of size and wide scope, especially in the Middle East. Clifford Chance, however, was able to add to involvement in the main Middle Eastern Islamic deals a central role in Euromoney’s best sukuk of the year: the Khazanah $550 million exchangeable.
Clifford Chance’s team boasts a useful alliance with Saudi law firm Al-Jadaan & Partners. This helped Clifford Chance win an advisory role for HSBC on that bank’s management of a sukuk for the Binladin Group. The structure for this sukuk allows a refund of the principal investment at the maturity of the sukuk but avoids the need for a purchase undertaking, something that had caused widely publicized concern among some Shariah scholars.
Also in Saudi Arabia, Clifford Chance advised on the financing of the $5.5 billion phosphate mine and fertilizer plant to be developed by the national mining company, Ma’aden.
Clifford Chance furthermore advised on the world’s largest Shariah-compliant securitization to date: the $1 billion local-currency securitization for Sorouh, a developer in Abu Dhabi.
