When the King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Co. (KAFD DMC) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia needed assistance managing dozens of construction contracts responsible for the iconic US$40 billion infrastructure project (KAFD) in Riyadh, they contacted Orrick. We acted as outside counsel accompanying KAFD DMC for over 5 years, reviewing their entire suite of contracts spread across approximately 40 project sites that included skyscrapers, a Conference Center, among other major infrastructure and real estate projects and helped them navigate suspensions, terminations, major variations, extension of times requests, and covid delay-related force majeure claims, from their multiple contractors.
A Middle Eastern power company looking to enhance the skills of their in-house counsel on how to handle claims in the energy and renewables sector turned to Orrick to provide in-depth training sessions to their team.
Over 100 lawyers in Orrick’s Beijing, Dusseldorf, Geneva, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. offices are active in over a dozen countries throughout the Middle East – advising clients in the energy and infrastructure finance and tech sectors.
Our transactional team brings together leading VC, M&A, private equity, fund structuring, financing, corporate governance and ESG, restructuring, and tax teams who are well-versed in coordinating cross-border transactions involving the Middle East. Our disputes team helps clients avoid controversies, where possible, and resolve them efficiently when necessary. We work across multiple jurisdictions in tandem with our network of trusted local law firms and counsel with whom we dialogue regularly, allowing us to be aware of legislative and regulatory changes, often before they occur, and track evolving market trends.
Our experience includes assisting:
Orrick works both with regionally based clients and foreign investors pursuing opportunities in the Middle East. We have advised Saudi Arabian investors acquiring a Jordanian tech company and European investors in relation to the development of a green hydrogen project in Oman, vital to the region’s energy transition and infrastructure modernization. Our market-leading Cyber, Privacy and Data Innovation team also has provided global privacy compliance considerations for companies’ global data retention schedules and cyber incident responses throughout the Middle East.
Orrick’s International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution Practice provides commercially driven advice on dispute avoidance and defends clients’ interests through mediation, dispute review board representation, international arbitration, and litigation, including in the DIFC Courts.