Manama, Bahrain, 17 January 2016: Charles Russell Speechlys, a leading international law firm in the Gulf, has confirmed the appointment of Rupert Copeman-Hill as Partner and the firm's Head of Business Services, who will lead the firm's Corporate and Commercial teams in Bahrain and Qatar.

Rupert Copeman-Hill joins the firm's Bahrain office with nearly 20 years international experience advising on M&A and investment transactions, joint ventures, capital raisings, private equity transactions and commercial and corporate governance matters in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, the United Kingdom and Australia.

According to the latest research from Emirates NBD, the outlook for M&A in the MENA region remains robust over the medium term, as the level of deals both executed, and in the pipeline, show little correlation with weaker oil market dynamics. In addition according to estimates from Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting, the value of M&A transactions with any Middle East involvement reached $33.7 billion during the first nine months of 2015, 23% more than the value registered during the same period in 2014 and marking the best annual start since 2010.

Rupert's regional experience includes advising the shareholders of Abu Dhabi based Target Engineering & Construction LLC on the sale of 60% of their shares to Arabtec (listed on Dubai Financial Market); CapitaLand on a US$2 billion joint venture with Mubadala Development Company for the mixed use development Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi; Oasis Capital Bank as lead investor in New York based Capital Spring Finance Company LLC, a provider of speciality finance solutions and Oasis Capital Bank on its joint venture with The UNITE Group plc to develop three student accommodation facilities in London, together with structuring a private equity fund to sell down part of OCB's equity interest to high net worth investors.

Patrick Gearon, Head of Middle East commented: "We are delighted to announce the appointment of Rupert, to lead our Business Services team. With an impressive background, and significant experience in acting for listed and unlisted multi-national corporations, financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies and high net worth individuals, he will be a huge asset to our office and the GCC region"

"With Rupert's lengthy experience in the region he will hit the ground running and be critical in ensuring our firm maintains its reputation as one of the Gulf's leading law firms."

-Ends-

For more information, or to request an interview with Rupert Copeman-Hill, please contact:
Iain Munro
Bell Pottinger
imunro@bellpottinger.com
+971 55 5597389

About Charles Russell Speechlys
·         CRS is an international law firm headquartered in UK with international offices in the key wealth centres of Europe and in the Gulf, providing comprehensive legal services to governments, sovereign wealth funds, businesses, financial institutions, families and individuals.

·         In the GCC, CRS operates from Bahrain (HQ), Qatar and in Association with Al Soaib Law Firm in Saudi Arabia.

·         We undertake some of the highest value transactions and cases in the Gulf led by leading ranked Partners who live and work "on the ground" in the Middle East.

© Press Release 2016