About Khaled Al Assaf

Khaled is an associate in our corporate team based in Dubai. He advises on public and private cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, regulatory matters, capital markets and corporate restructurings.

Having practised law and advised on trasactions in three Middle Eastern jurisdictions (Jordan, Qatar and the UAE), Khaled has significant knowledge of the regulations and common practices of the region.

Khaled is fluent in Arabic and English.

Recent work

• Sohar International Bank SAOG on its merger with HSBC Bank Oman SAOG – the merger is expected to complete in the second half of 2023.
• Chalhoub Group, the largest luxury retail operator in the Middle East, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Threads Styling, a London based digital luxury retailer and personal shopping platform.
• Kuwait Finance House on its cross border acquisition by way of share swap of Ahli United Bank in Bahrain. The consolidation is set to create the largest banking entity in Kuwait with assets of $94bn.
• The Founder of DAMAC Properties on his $599mn public tender offer for the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of DAMAC followed by a squeeze out of minorities and de-listing of DAMAC.
• * Masraf Al Rayan on its merger with Al KhalijiBank. The merger is the first merger of publicly listed banks in Qatar, creating one of the largest Sharia’ahcompliant banks in the region with over QAR182 billion in assets.
• * Qatar First Bank on its acquisition of a QAR240 million property in Doha.
• * Qatar Media City on its establishment as a free-zone authority, assisting in drafting the regulations and template agreements
• * a listed Saudi holding company on its share issuance acquisition of another publicly listed company in a deal worth + $200 million
• * on numerous investments through convertible promissory notes, KISS and SAFE agreements on behalf of investors and start-up companies in deals ranging between $1 – 5 million.

* Lawyer experience prior to joining Freshfields