DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES--(Marketwire - November 3, 2010) - King & Spalding announced today that Rizwan Kanji, a leading debt capital markets practitioner, is joining the firm as a partner in its Dubai office. Kanji will have a leading role in King & Spalding's debt capital markets and sukuk practice.
"The Middle East is a key element of our firm's strategy for international growth, and we expect to see continued growth in sukuk offerings in the region and in other capital markets," said Isam Salah, head of King & Spalding's Middle East and Islamic finance practice. "Rizwan's recognized expertise in debt capital markets work complements our award-winning reputation for property investments, private equity deals and fund formations throughout the region."
Kanji joins King & Spalding from Norton Rose, where he led its Middle East debt capital markets practice. He has advised on several recent landmark sukuk and conventional transactions, including the first Turkish sukuk, a $100 million offering by Kuveyt Turk Katilim Bankasi A.S. in August; the first sovereign sukuk (Kingdom of Bahrain) to be listed on the London Stock Exchange; the establishment last month of Islamic Development Bank's $3.5 billion Trust Certificate Program dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange and Bursa Malaysia; and the establishment of a $2 billion EMTN program for Emaar Properties PJSC.
"We are pleased to welcome Rizwan to our firm," said Jawad I. Ali, managing partner of King & Spalding's offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. "Building our debt capital markets and sukuk practice is an important component of the firm's strategy in the region, both on a stand-alone basis and as part of our Islamic finance, projects and project finance practice."
King & Spalding has a team of nearly 30 lawyers in its Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh offices specializing in complex commercial, corporate and financial transactions as well as project development, construction and engineering, with particular emphasis on matters related to the energy industry. The firm has long been considered a leader in Islamic finance and banking, being one of the first firms to create a practice focused on this specialty and pioneering many of the Shari'ah-compliant financial products that exist today. In 2009, King & Spalding received Chambers Global and Chambers USA's highest rankings for the firm's work in the Middle East.
About King & Spalding
Celebrating 125 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm with more than 800 lawyers in Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Houston, London, New York, Paris, Riyadh (affiliated office), San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Singapore and Washington, D.C. The firm represents half of the Fortune 100 and, according to a Corporate Counsel survey in August 2009, ranks fifth in its total number of representations of those companies. For additional information, visit www.kslaw.com.
Contact Information:
Contact:
King & Spalding
Matt Hyams
+ 1 212 827 4057
mhyams@kslaw.com