International law firm Simmons & Simmons has further expanded its Middle East corporate offering with the hire of partner Rizwan Butt in the UAE.
Joining Simmons from Clifford Chance, where Rizwan spent time on the ground in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and more recently the UAE, Rizwan offers broad practice spanning private and public M&A, with a strong track record of advising on high profile domestic and cross border transactions and joint venture arrangements.
Rizwan focuses on providing first-class support to sovereign institutional investors, private equity funds and listed and other large corporates across the GCC, particularly in Abu Dhabi and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He has advised on transactions across multiple sectors, including energy, natural resources and infrastructure, healthcare and life sciences and financial institutions including the first ever statutory merger and takeover under the Kingdom's M&A regulations.
Rizwan will work closely with Dubai-based corporate partners James Coleman (Head of Corporate and Commercial) and Noor Al Heialy, offering wide expertise, serving clients across the wider Middle East region. Simmons recently opened its Riyadh office in June this year, while in the summer, the firm also announced plans to set up a new office in the ADGM, Abu Dhabi.
Simmons has been significantly strengthening its teams across the Middle East: this week, the firm also bolstered its Riyadh offering with the hire of experienced partner Raminder Singh. This follows the arrival of banking partner Umera Ali earlier this year, who works across Dubai and Riyadh.
Alongside the new addition of Rizwan, Simmons' corporate offering in the Middle East is further strengthened this week by the arrival of Counsel Rida Jamal in the firm's Riyadh office. Joining from the same firm as Rizwan, Rida brings experience supporting international and local corporations, financial institutions, and private equity firms on M&A transactions, also offering expertise across multiple sectors.
Commenting on his hire, Rizwan said: "I am delighted to join Simmons & Simmons as partner at a time of significant growth and opportunity for the firm in the Middle East. I look forward to working with the firm's integrated teams to support clients in the UAE, KSA and the wider region and across our global network on their most business-critical transactions."
James Coleman, Partner and Head of the firm's Corporate and Commercial Practice Group in the Middle East said: "We are pleased to welcome Rizwan to the team. He is a first-rate corporate transactional lawyer and his arrival will further enhance our ability to execute strategic transactional mandates both domestically and internationally, in our sectors of choice."
