We are pleased to announce that the prestigious Islamic Finance News has awarded our Gissah Perfumes Company transaction the 2023 IFN Cross Border Deal of the Year.

GLA & Company acted as sole legal counsel for Sellers Bait Al Aseel and Mr. Bashar Al Ameer in the sale of 35% of their stake in Gissah Perfumes Company ahead of the fragrance company’s planned initial public offering.  Gissah, founded in Kuwait, plans to relocate to Saudi Arabia ahead of an IPO on the kingdom’s main market. It currently operates from 80 stores in 25 cities across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain.  The buyer of the stake was the Saudi private equity firm Jadwa Investment, through Entertainment Opportunities Investment Company, which was led by the esteemed law firms of Clifford Chance and ASAR.

Alex Saleh, Managing Partner, stated, “this is a true testament to GLA & Co that we have become the go-to regional Arab civil law firm in the GCC and greater MENA region for any and all cross-border deals within the Middle East. Stay tuned, as this is just the beginning since we have several other cross-GCC and MENA deals in the pipeline that will be closing over the next few months as well.”

Yousef Al Amly, Corporate Partner, added, “this deal was able to show case our teams in both KSA and Kuwait, which were crucial to being able to effectively run and close this amazing transaction.”

For more information, please see here.