Our attorneys regularly assist companies with a foothold in the Middle East by providing robust legal representation on a wide range of issues that impact international and domestic transactions.
Leech Tishman’s Middle East Practice focuses on assisting Middle Eastern companies in doing business in the U.S., as well as American companies with Middle Eastern interests, with a particular focus on Israel. As the Middle East economy continues to grow and innovate, particularly in the high-tech, medical device, life sciences, software, digital assets, real estate, and telecommunications sectors, our Middle East Practice attorneys are poised to advise on a multitude of issues impacting cross-border transactions including general corporate matters, capital markets/securities issues, and mergers & acquisitions, financing, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, litigation, tax, and more.
Our Middle East Practice has the experience and skillset to effectively assist clients with legal concerns related to a wide breath of cross-border legal issues. We regularly counsel clients on issues including:
- Capital markets/securities
- Contractual agreements
- Corporate governance
- Corporate structuring
- Cross-border/customs issues
- Data privacy & cybersecurity
- Entity formation
- Environmental concerns
- Financing
- Fraud
- Government lobbying
- Government investigations
- Intellectual property/licensing agreements
- Litigation & alternative dispute resolution
- Mergers & acquisitions
- Private equity
- Regulatory compliance including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
- Real estate
- Start-up services
- Tax advice and planning
- Venture capital/private investments
- Represented several Israeli start-ups in the IT, real estate, and biomedical industries in raising capital in the U.S.
- Consulted with the Bank of Israel regarding cryptocurrency regulation.
- Advised Israeli clients with digital assets portfolios regarding profit and loss reporting to ensure compliance with income tax requirements.
- Advised an Israeli-controlled Guernsey company, a holding company who develops and manages high-end office, retail, and residential properties, regarding trading its shares on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange. On admission, the company had a market capitalization of approximately U.S. $610M (based on an offer price of U.S. $6 per share.) Morgan Stanley served as the lead manager and bookrunner for the transaction. KPMG Corporate Finance served as the nominated adviser to the client.
- Represented Merrill Lynch in several transactions, including (1) the $151M sale of shares in one of the largest and oldest banks in Israel by three shareholders and (2) a $150M block trade of shares it owned in an Israeli crop protection solutions company by an Israeli client, one of the largest conglomerates in the Middle East with holdings in tech, manufacturing, chemicals, finance, and tourism.
- Represented an Israel-based global producer of food and beverage flavors and ingredients in its international initial public offering of shares listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and GDRs listed on the London Stock Exchange to institutional investors (including Qualified Institutional Buyers in the U.S. pursuant to Rule 144A) for a total aggregate value of $91.5M, including secondary sales by the client’s majority shareholder. Morgan Stanley and UBS acted as joint global coordinators.
