Legal Advisors, Abdulaziz Alajlan & Partners alongside Baker McKenzie, London have advised Gulf Insurance Group (gig), one of the leading insurance service providers in the Middle East and North Africa, on the acquisition of AXA’s insurance operations in the Gulf region for a value of US$ 474.75 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, announced on 30 November 2020, gig will acquire AXA’s shareholding in AXA Gulf (Bahrain, UAE, Oman and Qatar), AXA Cooperative Insurance Company (KSA) and AXA Green Crescent Insurance Company (UAE). As part of this transaction, gig will also acquire Yousuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo’s (YBA Kanoo) shareholding in AXA Gulf.  

A cross-border Baker McKenzie team was led by Riyadh based Corporate Principal Karim Nassar, assisted by Senior Associates George Marshall (Corporate) and Charlotte Soman (Tax) in London, working with Haya Massoud (Corporate, Dubai), Samar Baharon (Corporate, Jeddah) and Hessa AlAiban (Corporate, Riyadh).

Commenting on the transaction, Karim Nassar, Corporate/ Capital Markets Principal at Legal Advisors in Riyadh said: "We are delighted to have advised on this significant transaction for gig, as the business looks to expand in the region. This deal is testament of our complex transactional expertise as well as our strong ability to work cross-border. We wish our client every success in its journey."

This transaction is the latest example of Baker McKenzie's cross-border transactional deals in the Middle East. Recent deals include advising on the first fully international IPO of Arabian Centres Company valued at US$ 748 million and advising Alawwal Bank on its US$ 4.9 billion merger with The Saudi British Bank. 

The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2021.