Al-Ansari & Associates law office won the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) award as the best law office in Qatar in mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
The honour was for Al-Ansari & Associates' vital role in providing legal advice to Uber in connection with the acquisition of Careem, according to a statement on Monday.
IFLR evaluation of law offices focuses on three criteria; namely: evaluating the transactions handled by the office and its technical and financial value, legal expertise of the office concerned; quality of legal services rendered by the office; and its compliance with the international standards.
Uber's acquisition of Careem is a milestone in the development of technological based investments in the Middle East region, relying upon a unique structure which was adopted by several companies and their assets acquired in the region, the statement explained.
"Such structure included our role in co-ordination and providing the necessary advice regarding full compliance with local laws and decisions issued by regulators of the transportation sector," observed Mohamed Ahmad al-Ansari, founder of Al-Ansari & Associates Law Firm.
“It is a pleasure for Al Ansari & Associates to win the deal of the year award in the field of M&A from IFLR. This comes as a recognition to the effort of our team in furnishing the firm’s domestic and international clients with quality legal advice.
"Our firm works in accordance with the best international practices in the field of law, which has led to many international companies and international law firms vesting their trust in the firm and our team. On this occasion I congratulate all the law firms that have worked on this deal, which have also been recognised for the quality of their legal services."
Al-Ansari & Associates have competed for, and won, many international awards for their legal services, especially from 2014 to 2019. Al-Ansari & Associates were also nominated, together with a number of international law offices, for the Law Firm of the Year Award in the field of arbitration for the year 2020 in the Middle East Legal Awards which are organized by the Corporate Lawyers Association - Middle East in co-operation with LegalWeek. The winners of that award will be announced in November, the statement added.