George Sayen has been involved in handling Saudi legal matters since 1987 and has resided full time in Riyadh since 1988. He is actively involved in advising Saudi and foreign clients on a wide range of Saudi Arabian corporate and commercial law issues.

Mr. Sayen was educated at Dartmouth College (AB, 1980) and the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania (JD, 1986). While studying for his JD degree at the University of Pennsylvania he completed a joint program in Middle East Studies and Islamic Law, as well as intensive Arabic language courses at Middlebury College (summer 1983) and the American University in Cairo (1984 - 1985).

Practice Focus

Mr. Sayen focuses his practice on general corporate and commercial transactions, major projects, mergers and acquisitions, employment and government contracting.

Representative Legal Matters

• Advising Saudi Industrial Investment Group in relation to its joint venture arrangements for Saudi Chevron Petrochemical, the first large scale petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia as well as US$1 billion and US$4 billion follow-on projects.
• Advising a group of industrial investors in relation to structuring and financing a petrochemical derivatives complex in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
• Advising National Petrochemical Industrialization Company (Tasnee Petrochemicals) in relation to a joint venture with Basell to establish a US$ 500 million propylene-polypropylene petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia.
• Advising Shell and Total in relation to the first gas exploration and development contract to be signed pursuant Saudi Arabia’s Gas Initiative.
• Advising Suez Energy in relation to the US$4 billion Marafiq Independent Water and Power Project.
• Advising CMS Energy in relation to its joint venture arrangements in connection with the Kingdom’s first independent power plant project.
• Advising the Saudi Government in relation to an initial public offering of shares in the Company for Cooperative Insurance, the first public offering of shares in an insurance company.
• Acting for a major Saudi group in connection with a joint venture with a major U.A.E. group to establish a chain of supermarkets, including licensing arrangements with a leading European retailer.
• Advising International Finance Corporation in connection with its participation in a joint venture with Saudi and foreign investors to establish one of the first two finance leasing companies in Saudi Arabia and the first to be organized as a joint stock company.
• Advising Saudi and/or international clients regarding Saudi operations in the computer and/or telecommunications services field in Saudi Arabia including the first Saudi joint venture to be licensed as an internet services provider, and the structuring or restructuring of the Saudi operations of leading international IT and telecoms companies such as Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Nortel, and NCR.
• Structuring or restructuring the Saudi operations of major U.S. defense contractors.
• Restructuring joint venture manufacturing and distribution operations in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf involving a leading Saudi Group and leading foreign consumer products companies.
• Advising sellers and purchasers of Saudi and Arabian Gulf companies in a variety of manufacturing and services fields.
• Advising agencies of the Saudi Arabian Government in relation to legislative reform and reducing barriers to investment.
• Advising Saudi and foreign clients regarding a wide range of distribution, agency and franchise matters.
• Preparing standard employment contracts and advising with regard to labor matters for numerous international and local clients.
• Advising on the Saudi Government Tender Regulations.
• Providing litigation advice and support in relation to disputes involving matters such as agency and joint venture terminations, labor disputes, and Government contracts.

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association
• New York State Bar Association

Admission

New York~United States (1987)

Education

University of Pennsylvania  (J.D.) (1986)
University of Pennsylvania  (J.D.) (1986)
Dartmouth College  (A.B.) (1980)