Soheir Elbanna | People | Baker McKenzie

Biography

Soheir Elbanna is Counsel in Baker McKenzie’s Banking & Finance practice, advising across both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia offices. She has been with the firm since 2021, having previously worked in-house at the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) in Kuwait, where she gained valuable insight into complex banking operations, commercial priorities, and risk considerations of financial institutions.

Soheir is dual-qualified in Egypt and the United Kingdom, bringing a unique cross-border legal perspective to her work. Soheir regularly advises on a broad spectrum of banking and finance matters, including corporate finance, acquisition and leveraged finance, project finance, and Islamic finance, with a particular focus on complex international banking transactions. Her experience spans syndicated and secured financing structures, and she is well regarded by her clients, most frequently financial institutions, for her commercial, practical, and solutions driven approach. She has also regularly acted for major corporate borrowers on high value financings in the region.

Soheir is recognized as a “Notable Practitioner” by IFLR1000 for her contributions to the field.

Representative Legal Matters

Acting as issuer’s counsel to Abdul Samad Al Qurashi for Oud, Amber, and Perfumes Stores Company and ASQ Investment Company on a first of its kind SAR 1 billion secured exchangeable private credit sukuk issuance and group-wide debt restructuring, arranged by SNB Capital, involving extensive negotiations with eight existing lenders in KSA and the UAE, bespoke Islamic finance structuring, complex covenant and conversion mechanics, security release and re registration, and an 18 month end to end capital restructuring process positioning the group for long term financial stability.
Acting as borrower’s counsel to a prominent Saudi developer in relation to its dual currency SAR 12 billion equivalent long term syndicated working capital commodity murabaha facilities, including advising on Shariah aspects of the AAOIFI compliant tranche.
Acting as lenders’ counsel to the Saudi Awal Bank (then Saudi British Bank) and HSBC Saudi Arabia as mandated by the consortium comprising of the National Agricultural Development Company, Olam International Group, Al Rajhi International Investment Company Ajlan & Bros in connection with the acquisition of 100% shareholding of the Second Milling Company being privatized by National Centre for Privatization and PPP of the Government of Saudi Arabia. The acquisition finance amounting to SAR 2,138 billion (Won Corporate Finance Deal of the Year and IFN award).
Advised The Saudi National Bank on SAR 2.4 billion Murabaha facilities for a major real estate development project in Saudi Arabia (Erth Najd), including structuring advice and the drafting and negotiation of complex financing and security documentation.
Advised a syndicate of banks (Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait K.S.C.P. (DIFC Branch), Arab Banking Corporation (B.S.C.), Emirates NBD Capital Limited and First Abu Dhabi Bank P.J.S.C. as Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners (IMLABs) and Mashreqbank P.S.C. as Initial Mandated Lead Arranger (IMLA) NBD Bank (P.J.S.C.) as Facility Agent.) on BBK’s successful closure on a USD250 million 2-year Club Loan Facility.
Advised an array of lenders in connection with a range of facilities to ACWA Power and its affiliates which spans funded and unfunded loans, representing regional and international banks, and includes projects in the Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Uzbekistan, and the Caspian Sea region. This includes (i) non-funded facilities for banks such as Al Rajhi Bank, Commercial International Bank (CIB) Egypt, Banque Misr, and APICORP; (ii) cross-border project financings, such as USD 80 million equity bridge Murabaha facility for ACWA Power’s wind power project in Uzbekistan; and (iii) and funded loans such as Alinma Bank’s loan for ACWA Power’s new head-office.
Acted as lenders’ legal counsel to Arab Energy Fund on a USD 35 million bilateral committed unfunded facility to Metito Utilities Limited, including structuring advice and the drafting and negotiation of finance documentation, with signing and closing completed on an expedited basis in coordination with Guernsey counsel.
Acted for Bank ABC in relation to a USD 50,000,000 term loan facilities to National Finance Company SAOG towards financing the Borrower's general corporate purposes. National Finance Company SAOG is Oman's leading diversified non-banking finance company offering financial products to retail and corporate customers.
Acted as lenders' legal advisors in relation to a new facility to be provided by Natixis to Meridian Consolidated Investments Limited, a subsidiary of Maaden. This comes as part of the expansion plans of Maaden into the African mining sector and becoming the largest phosphate company on the continent.
Acting for Arab Bank plc in relation to release and settlement of facilities provided to a corporate obligor with its headquarters in Dubai for the purposes of meeting funding requirements for the development of certain wind and solar projects in Jordan and Turkey and certain bonding requirements in respect of such projects.
Acting for Arab Banking Corporation in relation to structuring and documenting a range of Islamic and conventional facility documentation (including multi option contractor financing facilities, Murabaha facilities, bond and LC issuance facilities, term and revolving facilities etc.) for Arab Banking Corporation's customers in Bahrain and cross border. The role also includes the creation and maintenance of documentation systems and management processes. This is a significant outsourcing of the bank's documentary legal function to our team in Bahrain.
Advising SIDF, as panel counsel, on a wide range of ongoing and strategic instructions, including legal studies, structuring advice, and the development, review, and enhancement of SIDF’s internal financing structures, security packages, and standard form documentation across its lending activities.

Admissions

England & Wales~United Kingdom (2022)
Egypt (2006)

Education

Cairo University (LLB)
University College London (LLM)

Languages

Arabic
English