A game-changing appointment to lead Corporate, MENA

We're pleased to share the recruitment of Abdullah Mutawi to our international corporate group as Head of Corporate for MENA.

Abdullah will be joining the team in our Dubai office this summer on completion of his notice from Al Tamimi, where he is a partner, Head of Corporate Commercial and leads the M&A and Venture Capital & Emerging Companies practices.

Abdullah has over 25 years' experience in corporate law practicing in London and the Middle East and he is recognised as one of the MENA region’s leading corporate lawyers. With extensive roots in technology, media and telecoms, he specialises in M&A, corporate finance, venture capital and special situations. With more than 120 venture transactions to his name in legal practice, Abdullah is also an expert in seed and early-stage tech investing and co-founder, chairman and investment committee member at one of the MENA region's leading Seed and Series A funds. 

Managing Partner of the firm's Dubai office, Ronald Graham said: "Building on our strengths as a European market-leader in high-profile M&A, private equity and venture capital work in the technology sector, we have been looking to find the best corporate technology lawyer in the region to work alongside our international team. Abdullah is the leading lawyer in this space with experience in substantial technology transactions throughout the world.  His reputation in the Middle East market is unsurpassed and I am delighted that he has decided to join us.

Abdullah's appointment is the perfect fit for us and aligns our Dubai office 100% with our sector-focused strategy and our global growth objectives including the wider Middle East and Africa regions, as well as in Asia, the US and across Europe. We are confident that Abdullah will bring tremendous value to our firm, offering unrivalled cross-border corporate, M&A, and VC expertise in these markets."

UK Managing Partner, Shane Gleghorn said: "Abdullah is incredibly experienced, and widely recognised as the leading lawyer for corporate technology and venture capital work in the MENA region. This senior hire enables us to expand our international capabilities in the technology sector and to add substantial specialist capability to the rapidly growing regional ecosystem. Abdullah's expertise aligns with key areas of growth internationally, and with his reputation he will help us to drive new opportunities throughout the Middle East, Europe, and the US."

On his upcoming international appointment, Abdullah Mutawi said: “I am incredibly excited to join Taylor Wessing given its market-leading track-record in venture capital and corporate technology. As the regional venture capital and emerging companies ecosystem has ballooned in recent years, clients increasingly need global capability which I will be able to deliver in this Band 1 ranked platform. The regional volume of growth capital, M&A and IPO/de-SPAC exits is also growing and the ability to provide top quality M&A support and seamless coverage through the whole of the UK, Europe and US is going to be critical to clients’ maturing portfolios and legal needs. 

I thoroughly look forward to leading Taylor Wessing’s corporate practice across MENA and to replicating, in this region, what the firm has achieved internationally. This is also a fantastic opportunity to join a growing office with a great, friendly existing team. I look forward to working with new colleagues in Europe, Asia and the US to build on the firm's market-leading technology transactions capability and align with a strong Middle East offering." 

This exciting new hire in the Middle East continues the strategic international growth story for our Corporate and M&A team. In the last 12 months we've added six new partners to our corporate group in the UK and Ireland alone, and advised on more than 800 deals.