Azhar Azmi

Head of Corporate

Azhar has a diverse international background, with experience living and/or working in Oman, Austria, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Malaysia. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales and has a wealth of experience in the legal profession, with a particular focus on corporate, banking and capital markets.

Prior to joining SAlegal, Azhar worked in the banking and project finance practice group of the Kuala Lumpur office of a prominent international law firm – Baker & McKenzie – gaining experience in major project financing and debt capital market transactions.

Azhar also worked as in-house legal counsel for the Malaysian stock exchange, during which time he was involved in drafting regulations for securities and derivatives trading, listing requirements for IPOs, and developing alternative capital market fund raising platforms.

Azhar provides expertise to clients on a range of legal matters, including banking, capital markets, company laws, contracts, corporate governance, corporate restructuring, employment, foreign investment, formation of companies, listing requirements for IPOs, mergers & acquisitions, shareholder disputes and regulation of public listed companies and general regulatory compliance issues.

Azhar has been involving in, amongst others, the following matters:

  • Acting as the local law advisor to a government entity in relation to the construction of an independent water and power plant (IWPP).
  • Advising on the development of a chemical processing company, through a joint partnership between a leading European institution and a government-linked investment holding company.
  • Assisting with an asset transfer and share sale of the Omani subsidiary of an international engineering company, as part of a multi-billion dollar global restructuring exercise.
  • Assisting a global logistics company in an asset carve-out exercise for its subsidiary in Oman and the establishment of a new company.
  • Assisting with the establishment of a joint stock public company (SAOC) for a government-linked company, in order to spearhead a soybean production plant with an investment of around OMR38 million.
  • Advising a prominent tourism development company on cross-border financing of up to OMR50 million to expand its portfolio of hotel properties.
  • Assisting with the dissolution of a joint venture which was established to undertake a national highway project.
  • Advising on the construction of a USD100 million hi-tech alloy wheel manufacturing plant and preparing / reviewing contracts related to the same.
  • Assisting a renowned educational institution to undertake a major tender awarded by the Ministry of Education to develop an academic curriculum for Oman’s public education system.
  • Preparing contract and lease templates for use by a national real estate company to develop major real estate projects, including a 5-star branded hotel and a shopping mall.

Admissions & Qualifications

  • Bar of England and Wales
  • Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
  • High Court of Malaya

Education

  • Bar Vocational Course, City Law School, UK
  • LL.M, International Economic Law, University College London (UCL)
  • LL.B (Hons), Durham University
  • English
  • Malay
  • German
  • Japanese