Middle East - United Arab Emirates
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Noted for its aviation finance acumen, the team at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP utilises ‘profound knowledge of the law combined with sound understanding of the commercial intentions’ to advise an impressive range clients on a broad spectrum of financing transactions, including project financing for large scale-energy developments and real estate builds, refinancing existing lease structures, and debt financing for acquisitions. The team also regularly advises leading regional banks on the creation of new Shariah-compliant master structures for future investments. Aviation specialist Sidanth Rajagopal and energy and infrastructure expert Alexey Chertov joined the practice in 2022 from K&L Gates and the firm’s Moscow office respectively, joining Ayman A Khaleq and Amanjit K Fagura as joint heads of the group. Khaleq is noted for his abilities structuring bespoke investment platforms and handling cross-border transactions, while Fagura is key to the team’s Islamic financing work. Yaroslav Smorodin has been an active supporting presence on a range of mandates.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Combination of high professionalism and quality of services with client-friendly approach.'
- 'Alexey is very professional, knowledgeable, creative, client-friendly, and detailed in his approach. He stays very involved in every matter and case.'
- 'Grigory is very professional, knowledgeable, creative, hands-on, commercial and a strong negotiator.'
‘The Morgan Lewis aircraft finance team is a strong and competitive team in the marketplace. They have diversity of nationality and gender, and the depth of knowledge and support as external counsel on a transaction is wonderful.’
‘Sidanth Rajagopal and Manuela Krach are excellent lawyers who support a transaction from beginning to end. They are both readily available when required and drive forward the transaction.’
‘Great practice which easily cooperates between various offices as they would have been located in one place.’
‘The team at Morgan Lewis gathers great experts in the field. The team demonstrates profound knowledge of the law combined with sound understanding of the commercial intentions. The lawyers are incredibly responsive and able to turn around complex matters at a high pace without losing quality.’
‘Alexey Chertov is a fantastic lawyer assisting us with transactional work. He is savvy, knowledgeable, and we are constantly impressed with his level of responsiveness.'
Key clients
- Al Sharqiya Aviation
- HSBC Bank Middle East Limited
- Dubai Aviation Corporation (t/a Flydubai)
- Atlantis Commodities Trading
- Mered Investment Co. LLC
- Natixis SA
- Standard Chartered (New York Branch)
- Trafigura (Dubai branch)
- Al Ahli Holding Group
- Al Futtaim Investment Management Limited
- Dubai Government Sustainability Standards
- Gulf Capital
- Islamic Corporation for the Development in the Private Sector (ICD)
- NBK Capital Partners
- SHUAA Capital
Work highlights
- Advised HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd., HSBC Bank PLC, HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt GmbH, and HSBC Bank A.Ş. in the financing for the development of a 56 megawatt wind power plant and a 35 megawatt solar hybrid power plant by Enerjisa Enerji Űretim A.Ş.—the largest independent power producer in Turkey.
- Advised Flydubai on the sale and leaseback of one Boeing 737-800 max aircraft with Griffin Global Asset Management DAC.
- Advised on the acquisition of one Airbus H125 helicopter on a finance lease from Chailease Finance group.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Alexey Chertov, Sidanth Rajagopal, Ayman A. Khaleq, Amanjit Fagura