Sameh Kamal

Practice Areas

Projects

Career

Sameh Kamal, Partner, joined ZH in 2012 moving from an international law firm. He masters in-depth knowledge and practical experience in corporate, commercial, financial transactions and related securities, banks settlements, incorporation of companies, securitization, securities lending, investment management, private equity, mutual funds, leveraged acquisition, and project finance transactions. He also has a solid track record of successful cooperation with governmental entities, authorities, and public companies in relation to sovereign backed transactions as well as with private entities.

Prior to joining ZH in 2012, Sameh undertook advising an international investor on all aspects relating to a wastewater project in a developing community through the PPP scheme. He also advised several clients in relation to the legal aspects of the Tender Law - including bidding and transacting with government agencies. He had further advised an international consortium with respect to bidding for the third mobile license in Egypt. Additionally, Sameh was a member of the French-based Onyx team handling and negotiating a major long-term solid waste disposal contract with the Governorate of Alexandria.

Recently, Sameh advised an investor on all legal aspects of financing a major project established through a BOT system in Egypt as well as counseling on and negotiating the FDIC-based construction agreement and financing agreement. He also advised an international bank on all legal aspects related to providing finance to a sovereign backed company - including all required securities and corporate authorizations. His recent professional experience also includes advising a leading Egyptian bank on all aspects of a leveraged acquisition transaction involving the acquisition of real estate projects through a settlement arrangement and booking such projects on the books of a joint venture structure via leveraged acquisition.

With 23 years of experience, recent examples of the matters he has taken part in include:

* Advising RATP DEV on the Operation & Maintenance of Line 3 of Cairo Metro with the concerned public authority (the National Authority for Tunnels). (2020 – to date)

* Advising Fortescue Future Industries on the green hydrogen project. (In progress)

* Representing Hassan Allam Utilities Consultancies, Orascom and Samcrete in the concession granted by the internal trade development authority towards the establishment, operation, maintenance and hand-over of the Strategic Warehouses Project. (In progress)

* Advising ANOPC (as a borrower), NBE, and BM in the USD 701.38 million Financial Facility Agreement (Tranche B). (2022)

* Advising the National Authority for Tunnels on the termination of an advisor engaged on the Fourth Line of Cairo Metro Project. (2022)

* Acting as Sole Local Egyptian Counsel to the Consortium of British investors in ECHEM’s USD 8 billion Al Alamein Petrochemical Project. (2020)

* Acting as the Egyptian Legal Advisor to Harbin Electric International Co., Ltd. is China’s leading large-scale enterprise in power project contracting and export of power equipment on its anticipated Clean Coal Fired Power Plant Project. (2020)

* Advising on the liquidation and acting as the liquidator of two energy companies incorporated for the sake of participation in the Feed-in-Tariff Round 1. (2020)

* Acting as an independent legal counsel to a number of Al-Kharafi group companies on all legal aspects regarding the assignment of the management, operation, and maintenance of utilities located on land under the administrative jurisdiction of the General Authority for Tourism Development, and related handover arrangements. (2020)

* Acting as an independent legal counsel to a number of Al Kharafi group companies on all legal aspects regarding the co-operation of developing a joint touristic project located on land under the administrative jurisdiction of the General Authority for Tourism Development. (2020)

* Acting as an independent legal counsel for both Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development (MNHD) (a listed company on the Egyptian Exchange) and one of the leading Egyptian banks in relation to the financing of a power substation project for its mega Sarai project, including all related licenses and permits, securities, guarantees, and escrow arrangements. (2020)

* Advising Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development (MNHD) (a listed company on the Egyptian Exchange) on all aspects of a syndicated financing for the construction of a mega residential project located at the Suez road. (2020)

* As part of the Systra Consortium, advising the Government of Egypt on the Engineering, design & Procurement (EPC), Operation & Maintenance of the High Speed High Speed Railway Project connecting Ain Sokhna to New Alamein City. (Aborted, 2020)

* Representing the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in supporting the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company in the design and implementation of Egypt’s first solar auction program. (2019)

* Advising El Sewedy Electric Company in the Joint Venture with The Arab Contractors Company within Tanzania’s Rufiji Hydropower Project. (2019)

* Advising Infinity-e on the Anticipated Implementation of Public Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles in Cooperation with Several Developers in Egypt. (2018)

* Advising KIMA on the syndicated facility agreement with several Egyptian local banks towards the Project Financing of a New Major Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant in the City of Aswan. (2018)

* Advising Middle East Oil Refinery (MIDOR) on the project financing for the modernization, upgrade and expansion of a new refinery. (2018)

* Advising on the Sovereign Backed Financing of Power Stations in Burullus, New Capital, and Beni Suef - Deutsche Bank, HSBC Middle East Limited and other lenders (group of leading financial institutions). (2015/2016)

* Providing legal services to ENGIE’s 250MW Windfarm Project in the Gulf of Suez . (2016)

* Advising on the financing of 6 Electric Transmission Substations in Egypt. (2016)

* Advising on the financing of the supply, installation and commissioning of a 4,400MW Combined Cycle Power Plant in Beni Suef. (2016)

Chambers and Partners also ranked Sameh as Band Lawyer in Projects & Energy in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

IFLR1000 also ranked him as “Highly Regarded Leading Lawyer” in the practices of Capital Markets and Banking for the year 2020, 2021 and 2022, and as “Rising Star Leading Lawyer” for the years 2018 and 2019. The LEGAL 500 ranked him as “Leading Individual” in the Energy practice and the Projects and Infrastructure practice (2022 and 2023), in the Projects and Infrastructure practice and the Banking and Finance practice (2021), and as “Next Generation Partner” in the Energy practice (2020). He had been previously ranked as “Next Generation Lawyer” in Energy and in Banking and Finance practice in 2018 and 2019 - and in Banking and Finance in 2017.

Sameh is member of the Egyptian Bar Association since 1999, has been admitted before the Egyptian Courts of Appeal in 2007, and is proficient in Arabic and English.

He achieved the LL.B. from Cairo University’s Faculty of Law in 1999 and the LL.M. in Banking and Finance from Boston University School of Law in 2003 - followed by a legal internship program at Van Bael & Bellis LLP in Brussels, Belgium.

Professional Memberships

He is member of the Egyptian Bar Association since 1999 and has been admitted before the Egyptian Courts of Appeal since 2007.