Joanna Maria El Khoury

Prior to moving to Dubai, Joanna worked in the Washington, DC and Paris offices of a top-tier US law firm. She speaks English, French, and Arabic.

M&A and Private Equity

• Advised the Multiply Group on the acquisition of a 55% stake in Media 247, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based specialized outdoor advertising solutions provider
• Advised the Pharmaceutical Investment Company of Saudi Arabia on the SAR 330 million acquisition of a majority stake in the Saudi Biotechnology Manufacturing Company (CJSC), which was coupled with a SAR 300 million injection of equity capital in the target
• Advising a major hospitality group in the acquisition of a 50% stake in a global chain of restaurants from a group of sellers across the United States, England, and UAE.
• Advised a UAE sovereign wealth fund on the divestment of its approx. 19.2% stake in the NorteGas gas pipeline business in Spain pursuant to a combined auction process and right of first offer structure
• Advised REEF Technology Inc., the largest operator of delivery kitchens, logistics, and proximity hubs in North America, on the acquisition of iKcon Restaurant LLC, marking its entry into the MENA market, and also advised on certain aspects of its joint venture with the Americana Group
• Advised a group of investors led by TVM Capital Healthcare Partners Limited on the $232 million sale of portfolio company Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Center to Amanat Holdings PJSC, a UAE-based publicly traded investment company that focuses on education and healthcare investments
• Advised Mizuho Gulf Capital Partners Ltd., the investment manager of the Gulf Japan Food Fund, on the structuring and acquisition of a majority stake in Organic Foods and Café Group, a multijurisdictional UAE-based supplier of organic products and operator of the largest organic supermarket chain in the UAE
• Advised Kuwait Life Sciences Company in the sale of its portfolio company Clinart, Inc., a contract research organization based in Dubai with operations in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon
• Advised Konark Capital Partners in the restructuring of its investment in two hospitals in Kerala, India
• Advised a global ecommerce, technology, and logistics company in connection with corporate transactions aimed at streamlining its services and operations across the Middle East
• Advised Humania North Africa Limited in raising an equity investment of up to $108.5 million from three development banks, including the International Finance Corporation, for hospitals in Egypt and Morocco
• Advised TVM Capital Healthcare in the sale of its portfolio company Wahat Al Aman Home Healthcare LLC in Abu Dhabi to Aster DM Healthcare Ltd., routed through its subsidiary Aster DM Healthcare FZC
• Advised various private equity and alternative investment firms based in the Abu Dhabi Global Market in structuring and implementing anchor investments from Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, including Olive Rock Partners and Ruya Partners Limited
• Advised various Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) sovereign wealth funds in connection with multiple co-investment transactions across various industries alongside US- and Europe-based asset managers (including Advent International, Brookfield Capital Partners, Thoma Bravo, L Catterton, Asterion Industrial Partners, and Vista Equity Partners), including private equity acquisitions and take-private transactions of US publicly listed companies
• Advised a prominent hospital in Saudi Arabia in its acquisition of three healthcare facilities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• Advised Essilor on US securities law aspects of its $49 billion merger with Luxottica, forming EssilorLuxottica, a global leader in the eyewear industry
• Advised Natixis as presenting bank in a tender offer by an affiliate of Silver Lake Partners and AltaOne for all outstanding shares in CEGID Group not already owned by the offeror and its affiliates pursuant to French mandatory tender offer rules; CEGID is a leading French enterprise management software and cloud services provider
• Advised Iraq’s South Oil Company, an affiliate of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, in its acquisition of Occidental Petroleum’s 29.69% interest in the Zubair Oil Field near Basra in southern Iraq

Venture Capital

• Advised various UAE sovereign wealth funds in Series C investments in Upside Foods, a US food technology company
• Advised a UAE sovereign wealth fund in various investments in early-stage and growth companies based in a number of jurisdictions (including the United States, Netherlands, and India) and across multiple industries, including:
  
  • a Series E investment in Getir, a fast grocery delivery business;
  • a Series A investment in an Indian B2B “apparel” marketplace;
  • a Series D investment in CRB Group Inc.;
  • Series A and Series B investments in SelfX Innovations Inc.;
  • a Series C investment in Bayzat, a regional employee benefits platform; 
  • a Series A investment in Nymcard, a regional banking-as-a-service (BaaS) provider; and
  • a Series C investment in Upside Foods Inc., a US food technology company.
• Advised a UAE sovereign wealth fund in its seed and Series A investments in a blockchain-enabled investment trading exchange
• Advised two separate GCC-based sovereign institutional investors in connection with their respective investments in a company in the space exploration industry
• Advised a UAE sovereign wealth fund in an investment in the Series C equity financing of YieldMo, a New York–based mobile advertising technology company
• Advised Fasset Holdings Limited in a corporate restructuring and Series A financing round of approximately $5 million; Fasset is pioneering a novel trading platform built on the Ethereum blockchain to facilitate investments in sustainable infrastructure
• Advised Equitrust Investments (the investment arm of the Choueiri Group) in its $6.5 million Series A investment in Arabyads
• Advised Wamda Seed Limited in connection with its Series A investments in Eyewa, an online eyewear business in the Middle East, and Aswat, a provider of cloud call center software

Capital Markets

• Advised SHUAA Capital, an asset management and investment banking firm listed on the Dubai Financial Market, in a $50 million sukuk (Islamic bond) and warrants issuance by Pure Harvest Smart Farms, one of the leading high-technology vertical farms operators in the region
• Advised a UAE sovereign wealth fund in multiple investments in preferred equity securities of MidCap FinCo Designated Activity Company, a provider of revolving and term debt facilities to middle-market companies in North America and Europe, managed by Apollo Capital Management
• Advised SHUAA Capital as sole arranger in the issuance of $100 million participation sukuk in relation to an investment in the Jabal Omar project in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
• Advised the underwriters in a US Securities and Exchange Commission registered offering by Sanofi S.A., a leading global healthcare company, of $2 billion of debt securities
• Advised Loxam S.A.S., France’s largest equipment rental company, in connection with its $810 million offering of high-yield bonds to fund its acquisition of Lavendon group plc in the equipment rental industry
• Advised Vallourec S.A., a world leader in premium tubular solutions, in connection with its $400 million offering of high-yield bonds
• Advised BNP Paribas in multiple issuances of fixed-rate resettable additional tier 1 notes for an aggregate amount of more than $3 billion
• Advised BNP Paribas and Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel in relation to several Rule 144A/Regulation S offerings of debt securities under their US medium term note programs
• Advised ArcelorMittal S.A. in various debt tender offers
• Advised Republics of Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire in international bond offerings and concurrent debt tender offers
• Advised a syndicate of banks led by BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse and including seven other banks as joint lead managers in connection with the $350 million offering of new shares by CGG, a global provider of a wide range of geoscience services, geophysical equipment, and marine, land, and airborne data acquisition services
• Advised Gecina S.A., one of France’s largest real estate companies, in connection with its $1 billion share capital increase with preferential subscription rights for existing shareholders, and concurrent private placement of more than two million preferential subscription rights allocated to it in respect of its treasury shares in an accelerated book-building conducted by a syndicate of three banks as joint bookrunners; the transaction was intended to finance Gecina’s friendly takeover of Eurosic
• Advised Tikehau Capital, an asset management and investment group, in connection with its $700 million share capital increase with preferential subscription rights for existing shareholders involving an international private placement to institutional investors pursuant to Regulation S