dla piper's middle east drive continues with islamic finance partner appointment

dla piper's middle east drive continues with islamic finance partner appointment
Oliver's experience includes having advised lead lender, JBIC, on the landmark $9.5 billion Rabigh project financing of a Saudi Arabian petrochemical refinery - recognised by International Financial Law Review (IFLR) as 'Project Finance Deal of the Year' in 2006 - and being a lead lawyer involved in restructuring the first conventional loan transaction into an ijara Islamic finance transaction in the Kingdom.
He has advised lenders on other major petrochemical project financings in the region; most recently on the structuring, documenting and negotiation of the Al-Waha project, the first greenfield project to be financed on an exclusively Islamic basis without any commercial bank debt.  His broad experience also includes Sukuk Al Ijaras and Sukuk Al Mudarabas Islamic financing structures.  Oliver advised on the first-ever Sukuk approved by the Capital Market Authority in the Kingdom for an aggregate issue of SR 3 billion ($800 million).  Oliver is a leading authority in the synthesis of various regulatory Saudi laws and has extensive experience advising multilateral lenders in Saudi Arabia, other parts of the Middle East and in Asia.
Earlier in his career, Oliver worked for law firms in New York, Washington DC and Hong Kong.  He is a member of the New York and Connecticut Bars and was a registered foreign lawyer in Hong Kong.
His arrival is significant given the substantial demand for experienced Islamic and project finance advisers in the Middle East and he will lead the development of DLA Piper's global profile in the area of Islamic finance.
Oliver's appointment follows a number of other recent hires to DLA Piper's Dubai office.  Senior projects and public procurement partner, Brian Clark, relocated to Dubai from London in January 2007. Privatisation and infrastructure specialist, Bruce Mullins, joined last month to spearhead a new office in Oman, pending a recent licence application.  January also marked the arrival of real estate specialist and head, Tom O'Grady.  In November 2006, Al Harith Sinclair joined as a partner to head the financial regulatory practice.
"Oliver's arrival marks an important step in the continued expansion of our finance practice in the Gulf.  He has first-class skills in an area where there is huge demand in the Gulf, particularly in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar," said David Church, Regional Managing Partner at DLA Piper Middle East LLP.  "Oliver has been involved in some of the most complex Islamic finance deals in the Middle East and we intend to build a dedicated team around him in order to widen our offering to clients."
Nigel Knowles, Joint CEO at DLA Piper, said: "We are fully committed to developing a broad range of services across the Middle East, as we have done across Europe, Asia and the US and I am delighted Oliver has decided to join us in order to help achieve this."
DLA Piper currently has an office in Dubai with 25 lawyers and recently applied for a licence to operate in Oman.  It also operates in Saudi Arabia with its affiliate, the Law Office of Abdulaziz Al- Fahad, and has an exclusive relationship with Cairo-based DLA Matouk Bassiouny.
Notes to editors:
1. DLA Piper is a global legal services organisation with offices across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US.  Over 3,200 lawyers across 62 offices and 24 countries provide a broad range of legal services to businesses that operate on a local, regional and global level.  DLA Piper is relationship driven and committed to meeting the ongoing legal needs of its clients.
2. DLA Piper was named "Global Law Firm of the Year" at The Lawyer Awards 2006.
3. For further information about our organisation and services, please visit our website: www.dlapiper.com