About Tabasam Faqir

Tabasam is a senior lawyer in our Global Transactions (Finance) team based in Dubai.

His practice focuses on event-driven financings and special situations, from complex cross-border restructuring and insolvency matters to corporate, acquisition and leveraged finance, across both conventional and Islamic structures.

Recent work

Restructuring and insolvency example matters:

• Advising international financial investors, including TPG Capital, on the restructuring of one of their senior acquisition facilities in the Middle East.
• Advising an international distressed debt investor in relation to its strategic options (including potential US Chapter 11 proceedings and an English scheme of arrangement) as a lender in a high profile restructuring in the GCC.
• Advising LafargeHolcim on the restructuring of project financing and equity arrangements of its joint venture asset in the UAE, Lafarge Emirates Cement, with a large syndicate of international and regional banks.
• Advising Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries / Julphar PJSC (Julphar) on the restructuring of its debt arrangements with a group of regional banks. The transaction involved the refinancing and upsizing of existing credit lines through the establishment of new long term conventional and Islamic facilities with a club of banks.
• Advising OSN in relation to the restructuring of its debt arrangements and complex intercreditor arrangements.
• Advising international DFIs and a regional credit fund in relation to the debt restructuring of a major Egyptian petrochemicals business.
• Advising GFH Financial Group B.S.C., the Bahrain-headquartered financial institution listed on three stock exchanges, on: (i) its acquisition of a minority stake in AMA International University (Bahrain); and (ii) the provision of two loans, including a sharia-compliant Murabaha facility to Al Fateh Investment Group for the acquisition of the remaining shares in the university.

General banking and finance example matters:

• Advising a number of lender syndicates in financing strategic finance transactions by a prominent Abu Dhabi based GRE.
• Advising PIF on its acquisition of a significant minority stake in RSGT. RSGT is the largest port operator in Saudi Arabia and recently signed a new 30-year Build-Operate-Transfer agreement with the Saudi Arabian Ports Authority to redevelop the northern section of Jeddah Islamic Port.
• Advsing a Middle Eastern airline on a US$500M syndicated multi-source (conventional and Islamic) financing, arranged by Emirates NBD Capital Limited, Noor Bank PJSC and Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC
• Advising Emirates NBD Capital Limited and Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC, as joint mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners, in connection with the US$550M multi-source (conventional and Islamic) facilities made available to Emirates Healthcare Development Company FZ – LLC.
• Advising GC Partners III on a capital call facility in respect of GC Fund III.
• Advising CVC Capital Partners on its acquisition of a significant minority stake in GEMS Education, the world’s largest provider of private school education. The transaction marks CVC’s first major investment in the GCC region and is being funded through debt and equity.
• Advising National Energy Services Reunited Corp. in relation to a US$450m multicurrency term and revolving credit facilities.
• Advising AD Ports on its US$250m ijarah (sale and leasback) financing with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.