Walkers advised long-standing client SHUAA Capital, a leading UAE-based asset management and investment banking firm, on the establishment and listing of its first Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) on the NASDAQ New York exchange. The SPAC raised US$100 million from investors and will now look to deploy those funds by identifying and merging with technology and/or tech-enabled financial services businesses based in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (“MENAT”) region. This is one of the first SPACs to be launched out of the MENAT region.

Walkers advised as Cayman Islands counsel alongside lead counsel Baker Botts. The Walkers team was led out of Dubai by Senior Associate Tom Hagger, with support from Partners Daniel Wood and Tom Cochrane, and Associate Reghard Smith.

Commenting on the transaction, Daniel Wood said: "We are very pleased to have been able to work with the teams at SHUAA Capital and Baker Botts on this very significant transaction."

"While SPACs have taken off in a big way in other markets as a tool for raising and deploying capital, the uptake in the MENAT region has been somewhat slower. However, with the commitment to SPACs shown by leading firms like SHUAA Capital, we only expect the level of SPAC activity in the region to increase."

Fawad Tariq Khan, MD and Head of Investment Banking at SHUAA Capital added “We have a long standing relationship with Walkers across many of our business lines and are pleased to have partnered up again with them on the launch of our SPAC. We are excited about moving ahead with this initiative which will play a key role in enabling tech businesses across the region to fund their growth and expansion”