Omar B. Maayeh

Latham & Watkins has advised Tamara, a leading shopping and payments platform in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East, in relation to an additional up to US$250 million in debt financing, bringing its total receivables warehouse facility to up to US$400 million. The facility consists of an incremental up to US$200 million of senior debt arranged by Goldman Sachs, bringing the total senior warehouse facility to up to US$350 million, plus a further up to US$50 million mezzanine tranche led by Shorooq Partners. The new financing will support Tamara’s ongoing strong demand for its flagship buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) product and release capital for investments into new products and services. The Latham team was led by London partner Tom Cochran and Dubai partner Eyad Latif, with counsel Omar Maayeh, London associate Leah Morgan, and Dubai associate Mustafa Darwich.~~

Nov 16

1 min

Latham & Watkins has advised Tamara, a leading fintech platform to shop, pay, and bank in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East, on a US$340 million Series C equity funding round. The transaction gives Tamara a US$1 billion valuation, making it Saudi Arabia’s first homegrown fintech unicorn. The round was co-led by SNB Capital, a leading regional financial institution, and Sanabil Investments, with participation from Shorooq Partners, Pinnacle Capital, Impulse, and others, joining existing investors such as Coatue, Endeavor Catalyst, and Checkout.com. The funding round is among the largest investments in a fintech company in the region, following on from Tamara securing additional debt financing to upsize its warehouse facility to up to US$400 million in November 2023, which Latham also advised on. The Latham team was led by Dubai partner Eyad Latif, with counsel Omar Maayeh, and associate Stephanie Dang.~~

Dec 18

1 min

Latham & Watkins has advised Chimera Abu Dhabi on the sale of its investment in InstaDeep, a leading global technology company in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning, to BioNTech. BioNTech will acquire 100% of the remaining InstaDeep shares, excluding the shares already owned by BioNTech, for a total upfront consideration of approximately £362 million in cash and BioNTech shares. Latham previously advised Chimera Abu Dhabi on its investment in InstaDeep’s US$100 million Series B funding round in January 2022. The Latham team was led by Dubai partner Eyad Latif and London partner Mike Turner, with Dubai counsel Omar Maayeh and London associates Pierre-Axel Aberg and Irene Brandão.~~

Jan 12

1 min

Latham & Watkins has advised Tabby, a platform offering buy now, pay later services to customers in the Middle East, on its US$200 million funding round, achieving a valuation of US$1.5 billion. This positions Tabby as the first fintech unicorn in the Middle East. The round was led by Wellington Management, with participation from Bluepool Capital in addition to existing investors STV, Mubadala Capital, PayPal Ventures, and Arbor Ventures. The Latham team was led by Dubai counsel Omar Maayeh, with associate Stephanie Dang.~~

Nov 2

1 min

Latham & Watkins and the Law Firm of Salman M. Al-Sudairi has advised Tamara, the leading shopping and payments platform in Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC region, in relation to the closing of a first-of-its-kind receivables warehouse facility of up to US$150 million from Goldman Sachs. The latest round brings Tamara’s total funding in equity and debt up to US$366 million. The funding will be used to help Tamara meet the accelerating demand for its flagship BNPL product and continue its growth across new verticals. The Latham team was led by London partner Tom Cochran and Dubai partner Eyad Latif, with Dubai partner Christian Adams, counsel Omar Maayeh, and London associate Leah Morgan. The Law Firm of Salman M. Al-Sudairi team was led by counsel Peter Norris, with associates Talal Abdul and Sumaya Bamakhrama.~~

Mar 16

1 min