Milbank Receives Two “Deal of the Year” Awards from Islamic Financial News

Milbank LLP received two “Deal of the Year” awards at the Islamic Financial News Awards in further recognition of its market-leading work in the region. The Islamic Financial News Awards ceremony was held on March 16, 2023, in Dubai and was attended by London Global Projects, Energy & Infrastructure Group partners John Dewar and Munib Hussain.

The Islamic Financial News Deal of the Year Awards honor the best in the Islamic financial industry and are among the most prestigious awards recognized by the Islamic capital markets. Winners are selected by an independent panel of experts.

Milbank was honored in the following categories:

• Restructuring Deal of the Year – NMC Healthcare
• UAE Deal of the Year – NMC Healthcare

Munib Hussain noted: “Milbank is proud to have been able to support the lenders on this important restructuring to help put NMC back on a good standing.  We are delighted to have received these awards in recognition of our hard work on this deal.”

The Milbank team advised Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and certain other financial institutions on the US$7 billion NMC Healthcare Financial Restructuring, the largest private healthcare provider in the United Arab Emirates. The restructuring was particularly innovative as it represented a ground-breaking financial restructuring of NMC’s US$7 billion of debt and a separation of the operating group of NMC from its former holding company in a market-first exit from administration pursuant to the deed of company arrangement under the Abu Dhabi Global Markets insolvency regulations. The transaction also involved an innovative administration financing package incorporating elements of US Chapter 11 technology.

The Milbank team was led by London partners John Dewar, Munib Hussain (both Global Project, Energy & Infrastructure Finance) and Karen McMaster (Financial Restructuring) with support from a wider cross-practice team, including special counsel Nicholas Crossin (Financial Restructuring) and associates Bader Thabti (Global Project, Energy & Infrastructure Finance) and Navine Hussain (Financial Restructuring).