Trowers & Hamlins has been recognised at the annual Islamic Finance News (IFN) awards for its role advising its client Warba Bank of Kuwait on its first UK real estate acquisition that also included an innovative Takaful solution.
The IFN awards honour the best in the Islamic financial industry and are one of the most prestigious awards highly recognised by the global Islamic capital markets.
Trowers & Hamlins advised its client Warba Bank of Kuwait on a cross-border Shari'ah compliant share acquisition of the company owning the property known as the Kia Distribution Centre, Immingham.
The transaction won the IFN "Most Innovative Deal of the Year for 2017", due to the novel use of a Shari'ah compliant W&I insurance solution on the deal by Warba Bank's acquisition vehicle - the first time this innovation had been deployed in the London W&I insurance market.
The deal was led by client relationship partners Nick Green (Bahrain) and Tony Poole (London). Our cross-departmental Islamic Finance team provided corporate, banking and finance, real estate, construction and tax advice across the firm's London, Manchester and Bahrain offices.
Nick Green, International Corporate partner, commented: "We are delighted to have acted for Warba Bank on its first UK real estate acquisition. This is a prime example of our class-leading cross-border UK inward investment practice, which offers our Gulf-based clients UK expertise on the ground in their own GCC markets and a seamless inward investment service for their UK ambitions."
Tony Poole, London-based Corporate partner, commented: "We are proud that the award, and more importantly the deal, showcases the ability of the firm to continue to discover innovative solutions for our GCC clients. We are very pleased that Warba's ground-breaking deal has been recognised by the industry and look forward to working with Warba Bank on future transactions."
