Challenge:
One of the prominent Islamic banks in the region was the lead arranger for an Egyptian oil services
company. The oil services company needed to refinance its medium term growth capital, and the bank
sought a way to use new, post-2011 Egyptian law to incorporate Islamic finance. The bank brought in
Hegazy & Partners as the prime legal advisor on the transaction.
We faced strict time constraints as we had to complete a best efforts syndication with complex offshore
and onshore security structures, and this needed impeccable documentation within a 60 day deal
window. This was made even more difficult, as we operated within an incomplete legal framework.
Additionally, we had to balance the perspectives of all involved parties, including the other conventional
and Islamic banks in the syndicate, sharia scholars, and the company’s counsel.
Solution:
We embarked on pioneering efforts at all stages of the transaction to complete it in time. Specifically,
we forged new partnerships and new ways of working the deal, fulfilling the needs and interests of both
conventional banks and Islamic banks under one syndication structure.
Result:
This concluded with Egypt’s first home-grown, 9-figure Islamic finance deal under the post-2011 Islamic
finance law. This award-winning $150M syndicated Ijara facility allowed the oil services company to
favorably refinance its capital in a Shariah-compliant way.