Bahrain

Bahrain’s thriving economy is a leader in diversification within the GCC region.  With a long and rich history in a wide variety of business sectors, from banking and finance to industry, manufacturing, and international trade, its ideal location in the heart of the Gulf and proximity to the Eastern Provence of Saudi Arabia creates an excellent environment for your business’s success.  Al-Tamimi & Company became involved in the fast paced development taking place in Bahrain by opening our Bahrain office in 2014. 

From our offices in the Bahrain Financial Harbour, our 30+ staff who live and work in Bahrain have an in-depth understanding of the local legislative and business landscape. Many of our lawyers are multi-lingual, are qualified across a host of jurisdictions, and share the global outlook and international expertise Al Tamimi & Company is known for.  When you work with us, you also have access to Al Tamimi & Company’s regional network of offices (17 offices in 10 MENA countries), making our knowledge of the regional legal community and foreign legal procedures unparalleled.

We are the first choice for commercial advisory, transactional, corporate finance and corporate structuring and re-structuring in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Our multi award-winning, on-the-ground team advises on most major cross-border transactional mandates and high-profile domestic deals in or involving Bahrain. Our practices have strong ties with government departments and regulators and often advise on introducing new legislation and ongoing amendment of internal regulations. Our unique connections, capabilities and influence have ensured that we are also the number one choice for some of the Kingdom’s most complex disputes. 

Our clients include sovereign wealth funds, multinational corporations, financial institutions, local firms, private equity funds and venture capital firms working across all major sectors, and for whom we provide  our expertise and know how in corporate commercial, mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance, corporate structuring, banking and finance, dispute resolution, employment, digital and data, shipping and insurance, real estate and intellectual property.

Our ambition for Bahrain and our clients in the region matches the Bahrain Vision 2030, which sees a move towards an increasingly diverse economy.

Some of most recent mandates include:

• Acting as lead local counsel for Citibank N.A. in relation to its role as the independent financial advisor to Ahli United Bank B.S.C. in relation to the acquisition of Ahli United Bank B.S.C. by Kuwait Finance House (Bahrain) B.S.C. 
• Advising ACWA Power (the Sponsor) as their local lead Bahrain counsel in relation to the development, ownership and operation of the Al Dur II IWPP in Bahrain, one of the biggest project financing projects in Bahrain.
• Acting as lead counsel for HSBC Bank Middle East Limited in relation to a restructuring of committed and uncommitted facilities in an aggregate amount of around BHD 60,000,000 including the restructuring of the full security package.
• Representing Bahrain’s premier finance group on the sale of its group business comprising banking, financial, cash management solutions, money exchange, money remittance and transfer services and international payments services, to a consortium of international buyers across different jurisdictions. The sale includes group entities with a presence and operations in jurisdictions across the Middle East, United Kingdom, India and South East Asia.  
• Acting for a leading European buyer on its buy-out of a major European headquartered insurance and reinsurance conglomerate in various major insurance entities in Bahrain, Jordan and UAE. 
• Advising some of the region’s leading start-ups including Careem Networks (one of the MENA region’s largest and most successful ride-hailing corporations) and Kitopi (a leading cloud kitchen operator in the region) with respect to the roll out and expansion of their operations in Bahrain.  
• Working in close conjunction with the Central Bank of Bahrain, Bahrain Economic Development Board and Bahrain Fintech Bay in advising and assisting a wide range of Fintech start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs with obtaining CBB sandbox licenses in Bahrain and the establishment of their companies and roll out of operations in Bahrain and regionally. .
• Representing a regional insurance company in a multi-million international dispute.  
• Leading international and regional banks in the enforcement of arbitration awards. 
• Representing financial institutions and corporate creditors in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings.
• Representing construction companies in the drafting and filing cases before the Constitutional Court.
• Representing several high profile international companies in arbitration proceedings.
• Representing a US dredging and marine engineering company in a local arbitration proceedings. 
• Representing a leading international construction company in a complex cross border banking dispute.
• Representing international companies in several commercial agency disputes.
• Representing international and local companies in various labour-related disputes