About

Founded in 1948, Karadeniz Holding operates in more than a dozen countries, with its primary activities focused on the energy sector.  As the world’s only owner and operator of a fleet special purpose ships that serve as a power generation resource through on-board power plants, the company is continually pursuing new opportunities around the world, offering a proven fast track power supply to its clients. Karadeniz’s five member legal team currently support over sixty group companies located in different jurisdictions.  Legal director Nazli Dereli Oba says that ‘given the business’s geographic spread and unique fast track offering, legal has an important role in ensuring deals are well structured, negotiated, executed and operated; commercial outcomes, investment protection and speed of execution are critical’. The legal team is currently involved in a complex and high profile contentious matters at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), requiring detailed attention and deep involvement from the legal team. Given the business’s geographic spread and the complexity of the transactions it is involved in, the legal team is constantly called to protect it from numerous risks, including those that are difficult to foresee. The legal team is also responsible for ensuring that there is sufficient flexibility in all projects to adapt to the changing regulatory and legal framework in the countries that they operate, which are across various jurisdictions and as such require specialised, geographically tailored solutions.