Khalid Anwer & Co.

The firm: The firm Khalid Anwer & Co. is a leading law firm in Pakistan. The senior partner, Mr Khalid Anwer, is one of the most senior advocates of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He has been appearing before the superior courts of Pakistan for almost five decades. The firm has a total strength of 16 lawyers, with associate firms in Lahore and Islamabad.

Areas of practice: The firm has been at the forefront of high-profile constitutional and commercial litigation since Pakistan’s independence. Mr Anwer has been involved in several landmark constitutional and commercial cases. He appeared for the current Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, successfully challenging the dismissal of his government by the then President of Pakistan. He thereafter appeared on behalf of the President of Pakistan to successfully defend the dismissal of the second government of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. He was also engaged to challenge the military takeover by the then Chief of Army staff General Pervez Musharraf. Recently, Mr Anwer successfully defended the Federal Government in cases before the Supreme Court of Pakistan challenging the constitutionality and vires of the 18th and 21st amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan in a landmark judgment that will determine whether the Supreme Court has the power to strike down a constitutional amendment.

The firm provides a large range of services, including litigation and advisory services. Its clients range from Fortune 500 companies to small companies. It regularly represents and advises the State Bank of Pakistan (Pakistan’s Central Bank), the Karachi Stock Exchange and the Central Depository Company. It is currently representing and advising the five largest banks in Pakistan (National Bank, Habib Bank, United Bank, MCB Bank and Allied Bank), the two largest insurance companies (Adamjee Insurance and EFU Insurance), the three largest industrial conglomerates (Nishat Group, Yunus Brothers Group and Sapphire Group), the largest textile company (Gul Ahmed Textile Mills), the two largest cement companies (Lucky Cement and DG Khan Cement), as well as a range of multinational companies (Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Procter & Gamble, Schlumberger, EMC, Toyota, Reyroile, Akzo Nobel and Reckitt Benckiser).

The firm recently obtained relief for ten independent power producers from the Supreme Court of Pakistan arising from defaults on sovereign guarantees of the government of Pakistan. In addition, the firm successfully represented all of the major oil and gas powered IPPs against the government of Pakistan in ADR proceedings relating to disputes regarding payments of billions of Rupees. The determination in these ADR proceedings is expected to have a major impact on the IPP sector as a whole and on the circular debt issue. The firm has been engaged by over 40 companies to challenge the vires of the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess Act 2015 – the potential tax liability involved is several billion Rupees. It is also representing several cellular operators (including M/s Warid, Telenor, Ufone & Zong) in relation to a sales tax dispute of over Rs50bn. The firm also recently advised Sui Southern Gas Company in relation to a dispute involving a tender valued at $5bn for a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal. The firm has recently represented the shareholders of a company in a shareholders dispute arising from the demerger of a company in the textile industry with an annual turnover of Rs6bn.

The firm has an impressive track record in relation to transactional work. It has been involved in advising both the sponsors and lenders in relation to power projects. It is presently advising on a number of acquisitions in the power sector and is retained by the sponsors of two wind-power projects. This year the firm advised on the Rs6bn acquisition of a fertiliser company after successfully representing the buyers in litigation arising from the transaction. The firm regularly advises and represents clients in relation to corporate restructuring. It recently represented and advised sponsors of Jaffer Brothers (Pvt) Ltd and Sapphire Textile Mills Ltd in relation to their corporate restructuring.