Kamran S. Bajwa

Kirkland & Ellis advised TASARU Mobility Investments (TASARU), a leading investment company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), on an investment in Blacklane. This investment will empower Blacklane to accelerate its expansion into the Saudi Arabian market, revolutionizing Saudi Arabia’s mobility landscape. Founded in 2011 in Germany, Blacklane’s ride-hailing services connects travelers with a global network of professional chauffeurs. Today, Blacklane has a team of over 300 employees across 50 countries, with operational hubs in Germany, Singapore, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Read TASARU’s press release The Kirkland team consisted of corporate lawyers Ben Leyendecker, Kamran Bajwa, Noor Al-Fawzan, Sebastian Häfele, Abdulaziz Almoosa, Tamara Zehentbauer and Jenia Dimitrova; and technology & IP transactions lawyers Emma Flett, Ben Zeris and Lana Khoury.

Oct 30

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is excited to announce that investment funds lawyer, Nabil Abou-Charaf, will join the Firm as a partner. “Nabil is a rising star in the funds world, with solid experience advising private and institutional investors with their investments in private equity funds and other investment vehicles,” said Kamran Bajwa, Founding Partner and General Manager of Kirkland’s Riyadh office and regional headquarters. “He will be a great addition to our growing team and platform in Riyadh and key to our goal of establishing Kirkland’s leading investment funds practice in the Middle East.” Mr. Abou-Charaf’s practice includes advising on a variety of domestic and international business transactions and arrangements including fund formation and investments, mergers and acquisitions, co-investments, joint ventures and corporate governance matters. “We’re excited to expand our investment funds practice to the Middle East with the addition of an exceptionally talented lawyer like Nabil,” said Erica Berthou, Kirkland Executive Committee member and a partner in the Firm’s investment funds practice. “As the largest, most active investment funds practice in the world, we proactively advise our clients on key considerations and, like the private equity community, we are investing in the continued opportunity in the Middle East.” Fluent in Arabic, English and French, Mr. Abou-Charaf holds degrees from Saint Joseph University and Columbia Law School and is admitted to practice in Beirut and New York. Prior to joining Kirkland, he worked at Morgan Lewis. Kirkland is a global leader in providing sophisticated advice to investment fund sponsors, institutional investors and other market participants in the alternative investment fund space. With more than 600 dedicated investment funds attorneys, the Firm’s globally integrated investment funds team advises on private fund formation, liquidity solutions, investment management and regulatory matters, as well as strategic advisory services. Since January 2019, Kirkland has advised more than 1,900 funds closed and in process with total capital commitments in excess of $2.17 trillion.

Feb 3

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis represented trans-Atlantic biotech venture capital firm SR One Capital Management in its successful spinout from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the close of its first independent fund. GSK is the largest investor in the oversubscribed $500 million fund, joined by a global pool of institutional asset managers, endowments, foundations, pension funds and family offices. SR One will seek to continue to build elite biotechnology companies developing innovative medicines that address significant unmet needs. Read SR One’s press release The cross-office team was led by transactional partner Kamran Bajwa and investment funds partners Andrew Day and Jean Jeong and associates Nicole Chiang and Nicole Pennycooke. The team also included investment funds partners Amala Ejikeme and Barry Le Vine, corporate associates Brandon Elliott, Adam Birnbaum and Brian Guerinot, debt finance associate Camille Doom, tax partners Ian Ferreira and Steve Butler and associates Emma Faulkner and Courtney Loyack, investment funds partners Josh Westerholm and Phil Giglio and associate Radhika Kshatriya, financial services regulatory partners Colin Sharpsmith and Lisa Cawley, banking regulatory of counsel Julie Kunetka, executive compensation partner Scott Price, employee benefits partner Liz Dyer, litigation partner Nick Niles, IP litigation partner Mary Mazzello, and international trade and national security associate Luci Hague.

Nov 19

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised the Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company (Dussur), which is owned by The Saudi Public Investment Fund (“PIF”), Aramco, and SABIC, on the sale of its entire 55% stake in General Electric Saudi for Advanced Turbines (a Saudi gas turbine producing joint venture) ("GESAT") to GE Vernova Inc. GESAT has manufactured more than 200 gas turbine modules for power generation plants across 10 countries including Saudi Arabia. The Kirkland team was led by corporate partner Osama Lone and associate Noura Abdulrahman with support from corporate partners Kamran Bajwa and Matthew Arenson.

Sep 5

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s largest international law firm by revenue, with 3,500 lawyers in the U.S., the UK, Europe and Asia, is expanding to the Middle East with a new office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Riyadh office will help support Kirkland’s rapidly growing roster of existing and prospective clients in Saudi Arabia and the region. “Saudi Arabia is an important market requiring sophisticated legal services for international business. At the same time, the Kingdom is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and a rapidly modernizing country that is becoming increasingly significant for Kirkland’s client base,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “Our Riyadh office will help us to serve our many clients with operations in and interests across Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East.” Kirkland has been granted a Foreign Law License by the Saudi Ministry of Justice to operate directly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia following reform to the country’s legal licensing model. The new Riyadh office and Regional Headquarters is led by Kirkland corporate partner Kamran Bajwa, who has over 20 years of experience handling complex international legal matters in the Middle East and emerging markets. Two of the top Saudi lawyers in the market and leading women in the Saudi legal profession, Noor Al-Fawzan and Manal Al-Musharaf have joined Kirkland as partners for the Riyadh launch. “Riyadh is an ideal location to serve the diverse interests and needs of our clients,” Mr. Bajwa said. “The creative, business-minded approaches for which Kirkland lawyers are known are critical for the complex transactions our clients undertake in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the most dynamic and fast-paced markets in the world. I am excited for the opportunity to build the Riyadh office and regional headquarters, expand Kirkland’s reach, and get to work on the ground for our clients in this region.” Mr. Bajwa’s significant experience in the Middle East includes eight years living in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. He also served as the Chief Legal Officer for the leading investment bank in the MENA region. He has been a partner with Kirkland and led its Middle East practice since 2011. Ms. Al-Fawzan joins Kirkland from Latham & Watkins, where she was a partner in the Riyadh office. She focuses her practice on M&A, joint ventures and general corporate matters with a Saudi nexus. She previously worked as legal counsel in the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), an arm of the World Bank Group. She holds an LL.M. from Duke University School of Law and an LL.B. from Prince Sultan University. She is qualified to practice law in Saudi Arabia and the state of New York and was ranked as “Next Generation Partner” by Legal 500 Saudi Arabia 2023. Ms. Al-Musharaf was previously a local partner with White & Case in Riyadh. She advises public and private issuers and investment banks on a broad range of capital markets transactions including equity offerings (IPOs and secondary offerings) and ongoing corporate governance and reporting obligations. She previously served as Legal Director of the Public Investment Fund Projects/NEOM Company in Riyadh. She earned an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and an LL.B. from Prince Sultan University. She is qualified to practice law in Saudi Arabia and the state of New York. With the expansion to Riyadh, Kirkland has 20 offices around the world. Kirkland is recognized internationally for excellence and ranks number one on Law360’s Pulse Prestige Leaders report of the top 100 law firms by prominence and distinction. In 2022, the Firm ranked number one for global publicly announced mergers and acquisitions by deal count (796 deals), according to Bloomberg’s Global M&A Legal League Tables, and number one by value and number of investment funds, according to Private Equity International. Kirkland also ranked first for having the largest litigation and restructuring practices in the world according to The Lawyer’s Global Litigation Top 50 survey and Global Restructuring Review, respectively.

Oct 30

3 min