Our experienced M&A legal team at Gateley Middle East delivers exceptional, results-driven legal advice with unmatched expertise. Comprised of internationally and regionally qualified lawyers, our team brings over two decades of experience navigating complex transactions across the UAE and beyond. Whether advising entrepreneurs, founders, investors, or multinational corporations, we offer tailored, pragmatic solutions that drive success.
We’ve earned a reputation for our deep understanding of the UAE market and our commitment to protecting the interests of our clients – whatever their size or profile. We pride ourselves on offering more than just legal advice; we aim to become trusted partners who help clients craft, shape and execute their deal strategies.
Driving our dealmaking
Led by Darren Harris, a seasoned partner with over 20 years of hands-on experience in M&A, our team has a proven track record in navigating high-stakes M&A deals with precision and decisiveness. We go beyond the traditional role of legal advisors by actively participating in deal structure optimisation and ensuring clients’ negotiation positions and tactics are well thought-out, effective and commercially viable.
We don’t shy away from taking positions and providing decisive guidance in high-stakes negotiations. In 2024 alone, we successfully signed 12 deals, making us one of the most active and connected deal teams in the UAE. With a diverse bench of senior and junior lawyers, we bring depth, capability, and continuity to every transaction – driven by a collective focus on delivering practical, high-quality outcomes for our clients in an approachable and collaborative way.
Crafting agreements that deliver
Our corporate team advises stakeholders and businesses on all aspects of acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, shareholder matters and debt and equity structures. We manage transactions end-to end, from pre-deal assessments and deal/ equity/ debt structuring to drafting key preliminary documents, delivering thorough or checklist style legal due diligence and carefully preparing and negotiating critical sale, equity and debt transaction documents.
The transaction agreements we prepare for our M&A deals cut through complexity to secure your deal and fuel your next chapter. We also recognise that strong equity/ debt agreements are vital to protecting interests and ensuring smooth governance and so we design and build the legal foundations for resilient, future-proof partnerships.
Flexible and transparent fee structures tailored to your needs
We believe in offering innovative and transparent fee structures that align with our clients’ needs and objectives.
We are happy to explore what option suits your model and your budget, whether it be capped fees, fixed fees, success fees, retainer fees, hourly rates, milestone payments or hybrid fee structures, we provide clarity and flexibility in how we charge for our services and keep our clients regularly updated.