Biography
Rima is one of the passionate senior associates at the Corporate Department in Al Ghazzawi & Partners’ Jeddah office. Prior to joining AlGhazzawi & Partners, Rima started her career with eminent law firms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including Ahmed Zaki Yamani Law Firm, where she focused on drafting, advising on, as well as negotiating local and international commercial contracts and agreements, and moreover, advising and forming local and foreign companies in different sectors, drafting civil contracts related to real estate and founding owners’ associations, and labor contracts.
Rima has strong experience in her areas of practice, which means that she can give feasible and strategic advice to help clients achieve their goals and minimize the risk. Her extensive experience provides a sense of security and assurance to the clients that they are in the hands of a highly-skilled legal advisor who will protect their interests without a backward step. Rima has earned a name as a highly-skilled legal advisor, with a single-minded dedication to her clients and a pragmatic, hassle-free approach to meeting their needs. Rima ensures her clients get more than just a legal advisor, she employs her life skills and business expertise, as well as her legal discernment, to provide her clients with the best chance of the best result.
Rima has been practicing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for almost two decades and is currently advising multinational public and private legal entities from North America, Europe, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Her areas of practice include:
- Corporate/merger & acquisition: advising buyers and sellers on cross-border public and private merging, demerging, buying and selling of companies and their assets, formation and restructuring of companies and with joint ventures and strategic alliances, in broad range of industries; conduct legal due diligence to ascertain the financial performance of the company, the status of its assets, whether there are any outstanding debts or legal claims that could prove problematic, and whether there are any environmental, intellectual property or antitrust liabilities that could affect the value of the target going forward; negotiate and draft agreements with different parties; gather all parties for the completion of the transaction, ensuring all assets have been properly covered by written documents that are duly executed; finalize all post-completion registrations and procedures;
- Competition/antitrust: advising on the application of competition/antitrust laws and regulations and clearance for acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures;
- Public-private partnerships: advising on and draft long-term public private partnership agreements between the public and private sector that are used to design, finance, construct and operate large government infrastructure projects, form a ‘special purpose vehicle’ (SPV) established to build, own and operate the end result of projects;
- Administrative Law/government tenders and procurement: advising on infrastructure, construction, engineering and general procurement tenders documents and contracts with government authorities;
- Construction: advising on and draft infrastructure, construction, engineering and general procurement contracts;
- Property/real estate: advising on and draft sales, purchases and leases of land and buildings and advise on the structure of deals; advise clients on their responsibilities in leasehold relationships and on how to take action if problems arise;
- Employment: advising on an employee and employer rights and obligations, contentious labor disciplinary and grievance matters within individual employment relationships, remuneration, employer negligence and culpability, and employee liability resulting in employment claims or negotiating a settlement and on non-contentious employment matters, including employment contracts and policies, and providing guidance on restructuring and termination programs;
- Environment, health & safety: advising on the water or air pollution, waste disposal, emission levels, health and safety, and potential environmental consequences of corporate, property and projects transactions, damage limitation and pre-emptive measures, compliance and regulatory issues to help clients operate within regulatory boundaries and avoid investigation or prosecution;
- Commercial: advising on and draft wide range of commercial agreements and standard forms related to the client’s business and the client’s protection against liability for claims;
- Intellectual property: advising on and draft commercial agreements between owners of IP rights and those who want to use the protected IP rights, to either transfer ownership or grant a licence for use
Language(s)
- Arabic
- English
- French
Education
- 2009 - Master of Law Program- Attended legal coursework: referral/conflict of laws (international private law), bet and gambling (civil law), copyrights and neighboring rights (intellectual property rights), collective labor agreement (labor law) and legal methodology, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon
- 2000 - Bachelor of Law, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon
Representative Work
- An oilfield services company and leading provider of technology and services to the energy industry across the world on corporate and competition/antitrust matters related to the acquisition and acquisition clearance of a Saudi company specialized in oilfield services;
- A US global designer, manufacturer and aftermarket services provider of engineered valves and pumps used in energy and broader industrial applications on corporate matters related to the indirect acquisition and acquisition clearance of a Saudi legal entity that works in the construction, management, operation and maintenance of electric power plants, sub-stations, water treatment and desalination plants, oil and gas pumping stations, electrical control systems for industrial projects and their designs
- A Swedish multinational engineering company specializing in metal cutting, digital and additive manufacturing, mining and construction, stainless and special steel alloys, and industrial heating on corporate matters related to an indirect auction sale of its Saudi subsidiary to a potential third party and clearance for sale;
- A US industry leader in natural gas processing and treating solutions, gas compression equipment, produced water treatment systems and onsite power generation, on several corporate matters related to the restructuring, management and operation of its Saudi subsidiary;
- A US diversified industrial company, developing for decades hydraulic systems and technology, on several corporate matters related to the formation of its Saudi subsidiary, managers powers and liabilities and Ministry of Investment notifications;
- A world leader in food, environment, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products testing and in agroscience CRO services on several corporate and competition/antitrust matters related to the acquisition, restructuring and acquisition clearance of a Saudi food and tobacco and pharmaceutical laboratory services company;
- A reputable private healthcare institution on corporate matters related to the expansion of its geographical presence in Saudi Arabia through the acquisition and restructuring of three first tier private healthcare institutions;
- A healthcare and education investment firm on the several corporate matters related to the formation, restructuring and acquisition of healthcare institutions in Saudi Arabia;
- A MENA market leader in providing power solutions and specialty batteries, telecom infrastructure and managed services on several corporate matters related to the acquisition and restructuring of its Saudi subsidiaries;
- A Ukraine’s largest agricultural produce company and one of the world leaders at poultry farming in the agricultural market on several corporate matters related to the formation, restructuring, acquisition, managers powers and liabilities, clearance for acquisition of its Saudi subsidiaries, as well as commercial and employment matters;
- A Saudi closed joint stock company which owns and operates a well-known chain of supermarkets on different corporate matters related to the corporate structure, general assemblies, shareholders and board of directors powers and liabilities, capital structure and share issuances and other related items;
- A Saudi operation and maintenance services provider for production of electricity and desalinated water worldwide on several corporate matters related to the restructuring and acquisition of its Saudi subsidiaries as well as commercial, environmental, health and safety matters;
- The investment arm of the Municipality of Makkah /an urban development company on corporate matters related to the formation of several urban development companies, involved in the development of several slums in Makkah Al Mukarrmah, increase and entry of new shareholders and conversion of these companies to closed joint stock companies and the shareholders’ agreement;
- The investment arm of the Municipality of Makkah /an urban development company on corporate matters related to the formation of a closed joint stock urban development company involved in the development of slum areaof 1.7 million sqm in Makkah Al Mukarrmah and the shareholders’ agreement;
- The Ministry of Transport in cooperation with a world-class global practice of engineers, consultants and advisers on the public-private partnership/ privatization of its media assets and development of the related laws and regulations applied in Saudi Arabia;
- A Spanish group of companies that is considered as one of the leading industrial engineering sector and specialized services companies in the world on several corporate matters related to the formation, restructuring and managers powers and liabilities of its Saudi subsidiaries, as well as construction, commercial and employment matters;
- A Spanish world-leader in providing proprietary solutions in specific segments in transport and defence markets, digital transformation consultancy and information technologies on several corporate matters related to the formation, restructuring and managers powers and liabilities of its Saudi subsidiaries, as well as construction, commercial and employment matters;
- 12 Spanish companies members of Al-Shoula Consortium which are in charge of the execution of Phase 2 of Al Harmain High Speed Rail Project that links between Mecca Al Mukarrmah and Al Medina Al Mounawarah, on several corporate matters related to the formation, managers powers and liabilities of their special purpose vehicle and their Saudi subsidiaries, as well as construction, commercial and employment matters;
- A German multinational conglomerate technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare on several corporate matters related to the formation, restructuring and managers powers and liabilities of its Saudi subsidiaries, as well as construction, commercial and employment matters;
- A Spanish listed manufacturer of high speed passenger trains and a comprehensive and maintenance services and rolling stock refurbishment provider on several corporate matters related to the managers powers and liabilities, as well as construction, commercial and employment matters of its Saudi subsidiary;
- The world’s largest manufacturer of rail transit equipment with the most complete product lines and leading technologies on corporate matters related to the formation and operation of its Saudi subsidiary;
- A Saudi-based wholly-owned company established by multinational consortium for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of an independent sewage treatment plant on corporate matters related to the corporate structure, general assemblies, shareholders and board of directors;
- A Swiss logistics company on several corporate matters related to the restructuring, management and operation of its Saudi subsidiary;
- A best in class specialty chemical sales, distribution and logistics company in Saudi Arabia on corporate matters related to its restructuring;
- A global chemical, gas and fuel logistics services provider on corporate matters related to its restructuring;
- A multilateral development financial institution finance for private sector projects on corporate matters related to the viability of security arrangements related to a syndicated financing facility up to USD 73 million to refinance existing facilities of a reputable private healthcare institution to refinance the existing facilities;
- A German multinational engineering and technology company on environmental, health and safety matters related to the voluntary recall of professional power tools angle grinders;
- A leading global Swedish manufacturer and supplier of bearings, seals, products, solutions and services for all industrial sectors on environmental, health and safety matters related to the recall of the asbestos contaminated gaskets inside Saudi Arabia and transboundary movements and disposal of hazardous wastes;
- A German manufacturer of high-end power tools for professional services environmental, health and safety matters related to the voluntary recall of the coredrills asbestos-containing gasket;
- A Japanese multinational corporation specialized in optical, imaging, and industrial products on environmental, health and safety matters related to its products;
- A lead cloud computing platform on corporate, environmental, health and safety matters related to formation and operation of its Saudi subsidiary;
- A British e-commerce company operates over 100 international websites on commercial matters related to the laws and regulations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pertaining to an online beauty, cosmetic, personal care products and food/nutrition supplements retailer based in the United Kingdom;
- A Chinese firm focused on seed stage, mid stage, late stage, and growth investments in the fintech sector on corporate and commercial matters related to an online clothing retailer based in mainland China;
Bar Admission
- 2021 – Member of International Bar Association
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