Baker McKenzie Continues Global Transactional Growth with Capital Markets Partner Hire in Riyadh

Leading global law firm Baker McKenzie announces the hire of Khalid Alyafi as a partner in its Transactional Practice Group, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 1 October 2024. Khalid's arrival adds further bench strength to the Firm's transactional and capital markets capabilities globally and in the Middle East & North Africa region (MENA). He is one of more than 50 partners to have joined Baker McKenzie's global transactional team in key business markets over the past 18 months. Khalid joins the Firm from Khoshaim & Associates (K&A), prior to which he had spent nearly a decade working at Allen & Overy (now A&O Shearman) in London where he advised on landmark international capital markets transactions.

Khalid's practice focuses on both debt and equity capital markets (including Rule 144A and Reg S). He has extensive experience advising issuers, sponsors, and underwriters on sovereign, corporate conventional, Islamic debt and high-yield issuances (both public and private), as well as IPOs, rights offerings, and public M&A matters across Europe and MENA. Khalid has advised clients on IPOs on the Tadawul main market, London Stock Exchange and Euronext, dozens of Sukuk and bond issuances in the GCC, and has also advised on some of the largest public M&A transactions in the Saudi market.

Commenting on Khalid's hire, Baker McKenzie's Saudi Arabia Managing Partner, Karim Nassar, said: "Khalid's arrival adds significant depth to our Saudi capital markets practice and further bolsters our position as a transactional powerhouse. His cross-border experience will be extremely valuable to our clients, especially as we see growing demand from investors and corporations for sophisticated legal expertise in international transactions. We are delighted that he has joined our Firm and the Saudi team."

Adam Farlow, Global Chair of Baker McKenzie's Capital Markets practice, added: "We are excited to welcome Khalid to our Transactions team in Riyadh. Khalid has an impressive track record advising global clients in the MENA and European ECM and DCM space. His addition underscores our continued commitment to expanding our capital markets and transactional offering in the GCC and other key business markets, in line with our clients' needs."

On his appointment, Khalid said: "I am delighted to join the Firm's leading Transactional and Capital Markets practices and to contribute to the growth of the MENA practice. It is an exciting time for capital markets practitioners in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, with both DCM and ECM transactions expected to increase significantly in the coming years in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030 Financial Sector Development Program. The strength and global reach of the Baker McKenzie platform positions the Firm exceptionally well to be at the forefront of this growth. I look forward to working closely with my exceptional colleagues to navigate complex cross-border transactions and deliver value and results for our clients."

Khalid's appointment follows a series of strategic hires across MENA, including Sally Kotb who joined the Firm as a dispute resolution partner based in Dubai earlier this month, and Dino Wilkinson, who joined the Firm yesterday as a partner and Head of the Firm's Middle East Data, Cyber and Technology practice based in Abu Dhabi. Khalid's hire brings the number of partners based in Saudi Arabia to 11, who lead a unique platform advising clients across banking and finance, M&A, capital markets, corporate and commercial, competition, Islamic finance, technology, real estate and projects matters.

With more than 2,700 deal practitioners in 45 jurisdictions, Baker McKenzie is a transactional powerhouse. The Firm excels in complex, cross-border transactions; more than 65% of our deals are multi-jurisdictional. In addition to Khalid, Baker McKenzie recently welcomed an elite transactional team of 17 lawyers in Los Angeles, and in September, welcomed Dirk Horcher in Munich and announced the upcoming addition of a high-caliber M&A team in Singapore. The Firm also recently welcomed partners Colleen Lee (Palo Alto); Tobias Knapp (New York); Colin Bowes-Carlson (Chicago); Eric Schwartzman (San Francisco); Erika López (Chicago); Hannah Luqmani (London); and Theodore Heng (Singapore), among other transactional partners.

Khalid obtained his LLB from King Abdulaziz University and his LLM from Georgetown University Law Center, and is admitted to practice in Saudi Arabia and New York.