Middle East - United Arab Emirates

Dentons

More informationMore information

A ‘great team with unique and valuable insight on local practice and law’, Dentons is active in the full range of corporate deals in the region and acts for clients in a range of sectors, including energy, TMT, healthcare and real estate. Cross-border transactions are a key strength of the team and it is able to draw on the firm’s offices across the wider Middle East. The ’superb‘ group head Iain Black stands out for his M&A and joint venture practice and David McGrory provides extensive counsel to clients engaged in the fintech, spacetech, renewables, aerospace and healthcare industries. Senior legal consultant Catherine Beckett and associate Kislay Kumar have also been active on an array of mandates. Ross Barfoot and Stephen McKenna were new arrivals in February 2024.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Dentons Corporate and Commercial teams are excellent and work closely with the infrastructure team to provide seamless advice across transactions.’

  • ‘Iain Black has developed a close understanding of our business over many years and is a superb operator. We have recently developed a good understanding with David Mc Grory and Lamia Al Lamki who have been strong performers.’

  • ‘We engaged Dentons to assist with an equity investment. The work outputs and time commitments from David and Kislay were absolutely outstanding.’

  • ‘David McGrory is an exceptional corporate lawyer. He is very commercially aware, is pragmatic, does not waste time and energy arguing over minutiae, finds solutions where others can't, and has an engaging personality. His grasp of the law is impressive, as is his ability to communicate complex issues effectively in plain English. He was very well supported by Kislay, whose work ethic was quite exceptional.’

  • ‘Great team with unique and valuable insight on local practice and law.’

  • ‘Iain Black is a great resource and partner.’

Key clients

  • National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed)
  • DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre)
  • Gulf Capital
  • MENA Infrastructure Fund
  • Snam
  • Dulsco
  • Ryse Energy Holdings Limited
  • A.T Kearney Middle East
  • Cordis Medical
  • Bayer US
  • Hertz Europe
  • APICORP
  • Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
  • International Finance Corporation
  • Karen Wazen
  • Ryse Energy Holdings Limited
  • Zero & One Holding Limited

Work highlights

  • Advising Mitsui, APICORP and IFC on a series B fundraise, pursuant to which it partially divested and re-structured its existing investments in Yellow Door Energy and entered into a new shareholders' agreement with the incoming majority investor, Actis.
  • Advised Dulsco on its cross-border acquisition of Advance Global Recruitment Ltd (AGR), as part of its international expansion plans.

Lawyers

Leading individuals

Ross  Barfoot

Ross Barfoot

Dentons

Ross is a corporate partner in the UAE with more than 21 years' experience – first in the UK and since 2008 in the UAE and wider Middle East region. In addition to advising both international corporations and local companies on a mix of M&A and private equity, joint ventures and corporate advisory work, he regularly advises his clients on business licensing, corporate reorganizations, commercial contracts and corporate governance mandates.  He has advised on some of the largest M&A and joint venture transactions in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE. Ross regularly advises investors and international operators on education investments, M&A, market entry, international expansion, corporate and regulatory matters. He is based in the UAE but operates on a global level, supporting clients on their international expansion. Ross is generally regarded as the "go-to" lawyer for the education sector and has been involved in a significant number of school and university projects in the Middle East region, as well as some of the largest education M&A deals globally. He is ranked as a "Leading Individual" in the UAE for Commercial, Corporate and M&A in the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions of Legal 500.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Iain Black

Other key lawyers

David McGrory, Catherine Beckett, David Pang, Kislay Kumar, Lamia Al Lamki, Ross Barfoot, Stephen McKenna