Regulatory Challenges in a Cross Border Voluntary Acquisition Offer

Gabriel Khoury, General Counsel and Head of Compliance, Shuaa Capital GMC , UAE

Recently, SHUAA Capital psc (the ’Offeror”) was involved in a Voluntary Acquisition Offer (’VAO” or ’Transaction”) of a Kuwaiti listed entity (the ’Offeree” or the ’Target”). Managing the challenges created by such a relatively un-common Transaction requires a fair amount of preparation on multiple levels. This included comprehending the Offeror needs and expectations, the regulatory bodies with their expectations, the cross-borders differences to be catered for by both the Offeror and Offeree, with the aim of ensuring that all business needs were accommodated with minimum disruption.

Gabriel Khoury, General Counsel and Head of Compliance: Gabriel has been heading SHUAA’s legal and compliance team since September 2017, where he worked in serval transaction and licensing projects for SHUAA in United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Prior to joining SHUAA, Gabriel worked for Standard Chartered Bank in the United Arab Emirates for nine years. During that period, Gabriel advised on a wide range of Transaction Banking and Corporate Finance matters with emphasis on Local and Regional Regulations. He also advised on Trade Finance and Cash Management. Prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank, Gabriel worked for Ashurst LLP in Dubai where he was involved in Mergers and Acquisitions, Investment Funds and Project Finance matters. He also worked in Riyadh for Squire Sanders and Dempsey where he advised on Conventional and Islamic Finance, Capital Market Regulations and handled Initial Public Offerings. Gabriel holds a JD law Degree (Saint-Joseph University – Beirut) , a Master in International Project Management (ESCP-Europe – Paris) and an LLM (Northwestern University – Chicago). Gabriel is a member of the Beirut Bar Association and has Arabic and French language skills.

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