Bader El-Jeaan

Practice Areas

Bader is the Co-Founder, Managing Partner, and the head of the corporate practice at Meysan.

One of the most respected names in Middle Eastern legal practice, Bader has led some of the most sophisticated, high-value, and cross-border transactions in the region, and is one of the most sought-after lawyers when a company wants to pull off a particularly complex transaction.

Bader has been active in regional M&A for over 20 years, and brings valuable commercial insights to private practice, having formerly been general counsel at the top private equity firm, Carlyle, and as general counsel at leading logistics company, Agility.

Bader has extensive experience advising corporate, investment banking and sovereign clients in complicated cross-border mergers and acquisitions, international joint ventures and strategic alliances, and project development and finance transactions, as well as various capital markets transactions involving registered and unregistered securities offerings, exchange offerings, consent solicitations, and asset securitizations.

Work Highlights

1. Mergers and Acquisitions

- Advised Agility Logistics as its regular designated counsel and also in connection with:

The $4.1 billion Sale of Its Global Integrated Logistics Business To DSV Panalpina;

The $4.5 billion global reorganization and listing of Agility Global on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange;

The acquisitions of Geologistics, Transoceanic, and Translink

Its Respective Joint Ventures In Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, The United Arab Emirates, Yugoslavia, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

- Advised National Aviation Services in connection with its $924 million acquisition of UK-listed Menzies Aviation by means of a strategic toehold, followed by a tender offer;

- Advised Zain Group in connection with the $846 million sale of its entire block Of treasury shares, representing 9.84% of Zain’s fully paid and issued share capital, to Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel).

- Advised Tristar Transport LLC on its acquisition of Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Ship Investment Company, also Known As “Eships”, from Egon Oldendorff GmbH & Co. KG, a company of The Oldendorff Group.

- Represented The shareholders of Abyat Megastore in the sale of a 35% strategic interest in Abyat Megastores to Saudi Arabian-regional conglomerate, Al Muhaidib Group.

- Advised The Carlyle Group in:

Its acquisition and subsequent disposal to Philips Lighting of a significant minority equity interest in General Lighting Company, the largest light fixtures manufacturing company in the Middle East.

Its acquisition of Alamar Foods, the master franchisee of Domino’s Pizza and Wendy’s in the Middle East.

The acquisition of Al Nabil Food Products.

2- Project Development and Finance

- Advised Mubadala in (i) negotiating and drafting the Development and Production Sharing Agreement and the Joint Venture Agreement relating to Project Dolphin, the landmark project to develop a tract of Qatar's giant North Field and produce up to 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day for export to the United Arab Emirates, (ii) negotiating the purchase from Enron Corporation of a 24.5% strategic equity interest in Project Dolphin and Dolphin Energy Limited, and the subsequent $340 million sale of such interest to Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

- Advised Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in (i) its auction sale of a 28% strategic undivided interest in the Upper Zakum Field, one of the largest offshore oilfields in the world, and (ii) the merger of Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Limited and Abu Dhabi Gas Company.

- Advised The Government of Kazakhstan in connection with the administration of the production sharing arrangements in respect of the Karachaganak Field and the Kashagan Field.

- Advised National Drilling Company in its joint cooperation arrangements with Noble Drilling Corporation.

- Advised International Petroleum Investment Company in the $450 million restructuring of Hyundai Oil Refining Company.

- Advised National Bank of Kuwait as lead arranger in the $475 million Sulaibiya Wastewater Project in Kuwait, the first BOT in the State of Kuwait (Winner of Project Finance Magazine’s Middle East Water Deal of the Year for 2002).

- National Waste Management Company and Boubyan Petrochemicals Company as sponsors of the $120 million Amghara Solid Waste Treatment Project in Kuwait.

3- Dispute Resolution

- Advised Agility Logistics in all its litigation related to its investment in Korek Telecom, including:

The first-ever bilateral investment treaty claim against Iraq under the auspices of ICSID, the successful annulment of the initial award dismissing Agility’s claims, and the subsequent re-filing of claims before a new ICSID tribunal; and

Securing a $1.7 billion ICC arbitral award against Korek Telecom and its controlling shareholders for multiple breaches of a shareholder's agreement.

Career

Prior to founding Meysan, Bader practiced for five years in New York and Abu Dhabi with Shearman & Sterling.

Bader has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Investment Authority (Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund), Boursa Kuwait (Kuwait’s stock exchange), Maqasa Kuwait (Kuwait’s Securities Clearing Company), Gulf Bank KSC (Kuwait’s second largest conventional bank), National Real Estate Company (Kuwait’s largest real estate company), Alamar Foods (the regional franchisee of Domino’s Pizza and Wendy’s) and General Lighting Company. He is also a Trustee of the Northfield Mount Hermon School, and was also the founder and inaugural President of the Harvard Club of Kuwait.

Education

Awards