The Law Firm of Salah Al-Hejailan in association with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Senior Attorney

Kareem is based in the Al Khobar office of LFSH, providing a wide range of corporate, commercial, and financial legal advisory services to Saudi and international clients. Kareem’s experience spans 8 years of corporate/commercial transactional work, including banking and finance, M&A, joint ventures, real estate, corporate finance, competition law, risk and compliance, employment, commercial agreement, advising on aircraft sales, purchases and leases, and cross-border transactions.

Kareem graduated from the University of Sussex in 2006 with an LLB in Law with French Law and qualified as a solicitor in England in 2013. He moved to Al Khobar from Qatar. He is fluent in French.

Recent Key Transactions

• KSA counsel to an international bank on a USD285m facility for the acquisition of a target company in Jordan and repayment of existing loans within the borrower group.

• KSA counsel for the borrower on a USD60m Murabaha financing facility.

• Advising Chinese company acting as main contractor for SWCC on desalination plant construction project and related documents, including but not limited to EPC contracts, O&M contracts, and related subcontracts.

• Advising on a CHF 15m cross-border sale of cooking equipment on a deferred payment basis.

• Part of the team that advised Banque Saudi Fransi on and carried out a comprehensive review and restructuring of conventional and Islamic facility letters, master terms, security documents, and other supporting documents.

• Advised on employment regulations and employment contracts, as well as saudisation and social insurance requirements.

• Advised on a number of incorporations of local and foreign-owned companies and branches in the KSA.

• Acted as lead counsel in a number of M&A transactions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by both local and foreign investors in a variety of industries, including but not limited to offshore energy, construction, food, and hostelries.

• Lead advisor on leasing of the plot of land and purchase of factory from the Saudi Investment Property Authority.

• Acting as counsel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in relation to the acquisition and leasing of aircrafts by the IAFC in compliance with the General Authority of Civil Aviation.

• Assisted as counsel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the purchaser on a USD200m Murabaha financing facility.

• Acted as counsel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the lender on a USD 40m financing facility.

• Acted for Etisalat Telecommunications Corporation in relation to the formation of a strategic alignment policy as applied to subsidiaries in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and internationally.

• Advised on distribution and agency agreements in a variety of commercial transactions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

• Advised on international franchising agreements, including IP, real estate, employment, and corporate aspects.

• Advised international companies on the requirements of the Saudi Food and Drug Industry on the requirements for appointing a local distributor and authorized representative for the distribution of products in the KSA.

Assisted and advised as counsel for the lender in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on a SAR40m Murabaha financing facility for the construction of schools for charitable purposes. • Advised international clients on immigration and nationality requirements in relation to the laws of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. • Participated in drafting, reviewing, and collating documents in relation to a USD90B sale, purchase, and lease of eight aircrafts in the Kingdom of Qatar. • Advising on privacy and data protection issues within Qatar and the offshore jurisdiction of the QFC in relation to the transfer of medical, technological, and financial information. • Advising on the registration of patented drugs in Qatar and the protection of manufacturers vis-a-vis distributors and agents.

Arabic, French and English

LLB in Law with French Law University of Sussex (2006)