Profile

Julian is a dual-qualified (New York and Ontario, Canada) corporate and commercial transactions attorney. His practice covers a broad spectrum of local and cross-border corporate and commercial matters, including mergers and acquisitions, antitrust and merger control, structuring and restructuring, joint ventures, foreign direct investments, corporate setups and governance, and a wide range of commercial transactions across multiple industries and sectors. In addition to his corporate and commercial work, Julian also has experience providing front-end advisory on contentious commercial matters and disputes.

Before joining Hourani & Partners, Julian practiced at distinguished international law firms including DLA Piper and HFW in the Middle East.

Expertise
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Antitrust & Merger Control
  • Joint Ventures
  • Corporate
  • Commercial
  • Structuring & Restructuring
  • Regulatory
Experience

Julian’s experience includes acting for or advising:

  • A UAE financial services public joint stock company and foreign exchange service provider on its acquisition of a 100% stake in the money transfer and foreign exchange business of a Bahrain-based company operating in Bahrain, Kuwait, and India for USD200 million
  • A leading investor in the acquisition of UAE-based freight forwarder in relation to stakeholder agreements, legal due diligence, and share purchase agreement
  • A leading international chemical products company in its acquisition of a regional petrochemical company and merger control clearance from the local competition authorities
  • A global private equity firm in securing local merger control clearance with respect to the acquisition of a EUR2.2 billion majority stake in a German-based software business following successful completion of a voluntary public tender offer
  • An international luxury brand on licensing, AML compliance, and regulatory issues in relation to the importation, trademark hallmarking, and sale of gold and jewelry items
  • A GCC telecommunications company on due diligence in relation to its prospective acquisition of shareholding in a Kuwaiti telecommunications company.
  • A major GCC-based retail company on reorganizing its corporate structure across the Middle East in preparation for potential listing on the London Stock Exchange.
  • A French company engaged in engineering, project structuring and operations services on due diligence of its prospective acquisition of a leading project management company in the GCC
  • A prominent GCC construction group and a Greek-based IT group of companies on the corporate restructuring of their GCC JV operations
  • A global software professional services provider of digital transformations and solutions on the share transfer and share purchase agreement for the acquisition of a UAE-based education business
Qualifications

Education

  • LLB & BCL, McGill University, Canada
  • Ph.D., Communications, McGill University, Canada
  • MA, Communications, University of Calgary, Canada
  • BA, Communications, University of Calgary, Canada

Admission

  • New York State Bar, USA
  • Law Society of Ontario, Canada
Languages
  • Arabic
  • English
  • French