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Paul Latto

Partner
Currently on secondment to Alshahrani Almansour
About

Paul Latto's core practice focuses on both conventional and Islamic finance products with experience across the full spectrum of banking and finance transactions, including leveraged and acquisition finance, derivatives and capital markets, asset and project finance, general bank lending, restructuring and insolvency.

Having spent over eight years working in the Middle East, based in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Paul has led many of the largest and most innovative banking and finance transactions undertaken in the region to date and is regularly cited by the main independent legal directories as a leader in his field.

EXPERIENCE

  • Advising a syndicate of international banks on Saudi Electricity Company's US$1.4 billion revolving credit facility. 
  • Advising International Company for Water & Power Projects (ACWA Power) on two syndicated commodity murabaha-based transactions to add another SAR1.109 billion (US$295 million) to its revolving shari'a compliant working capital facilities.
  • Advising a group of 30 global and regional lenders on a US$10 billion revolving credit facility to Saudi Aramco (state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company), the world's biggest oil exporter. 
  • Advising Standard Chartered on its USD265 million structured Islamic trade finance facility to Bahra Advanced Cable Manufacturing (GTR Trade Finance Deal of the Year 2014)
  • Advising the minority shareholders of Saudi steel manufacturer Al-Ittefaq Steel Products Company (ISPC), in relation to the restructuring of debt facilities and ISPC's associated liabilities to 18 banks. The restructure, valued at approximately US$2 billion, is one of the largest non-sovereign debt restructuring ever undertaken in Saudi Arabia.
  • Advising Samba Financial Group and Banque Saudi Fransi regarding a long-term SAR1 billion financing for National Petrochemical Industrial. 
  • Advising the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in relation to the drafting of the white paper for Saudi Arabia's proposed new insolvency law.
Languages
  • English
Education
  • Inns of Court School of Law, Bar Vocational Course, 1996
  • College of Law, London, Diploma in Law, 1995
  • Christ Church, University of Oxford, History, MA, 1993

Awards

Paul is consistently recognised as a leader in his field by legal directories and is described in the 2015 edition of Chambers Global as being held "in high regard by both clients and peers for his commercial approach to transactions and comprehensive banking knowledge".

Prior Experience

Prior to joining DLA Piper in February 2016, Paul was with another global law firm where he was a Partner since 2013 based in Riyadh.

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