Addleshaw Goddard's Middle East Expansion Continues with Addition of New Banking Partner Sandeep Puri

Addleshaw Goddard's Middle East Expansion Continues with Addition of New Banking Partner Sandeep Puri

Addleshaw Goddard has continued its strategic expansion in the Middle East, building on recent recruitments with Finance partner Sandeep Puri as the latest addition to their team is Banking. He was associated with the Dubai office of Baker & McKenzie, where he held the position of leading the UAE banking team. Puri brings with him a dedicated team of two associates, Sabina Passi and Niharika Sahni, as he takes on the leadership role in AG's UAE banking practice.

Puri marks the seventh addition to AG's Middle East team in the past few months, as the firm strategically aims to expand its market presence. This includes the establishment of a new office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which becomes the fourth office in the region, alongside existing locations in Dubai, Oman, and Qatar. These moves are part of AG's efforts to capitalise on its impressive 43 per cent income growth achieved in the fiscal year ending on April 30, 2023.

With a career spanning over two decades in the UAE, Puri brings a wealth of experience to the table, offering expert guidance on a wide spectrum of banking, finance, and capital market issues, catering to both lenders and sponsors. His portfolio boasts involvement in numerous substantial and intricate conventional as well as Islamic finance transactions encompassing diverse asset categories. This includes but is not limited to project finance, corporate finance, asset finance, real estate, and capital markets, with a special focus on sukuk transactions. Notably, prior to his tenure at Baker & McKenzie, Puri received training and practiced at Clifford Chance.

“We are well represented across the main bank panels and the ongoing investment in our finance team shows a determination to give these clients even more reasons to choose AG. Sandeep has operated across the region including Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and North Africa which complements our existing practice and we are delighted he has chosen to join AG,” Andrew Johnston, Head of Middle East and Asia, Addleshaw Goddard said.

“AG shares my ambition to build out a market-leading finance practice and I look forward to working with fellow partners Robin Hickman and Victoria Mesquita in presenting our combined expertise to clients. Together, we will have one of the largest banking practices in the UAE and wider region and a compelling offering to support our large regional sponsor and financial institution clients, including in my focus areas of real estate finance, leveraged finance, trade finance and secured corporate lending,” Sandeep Puri added.

With Sandeep Puri's addition to the team, the total count of Addleshaw Goddard partners in the Middle East now stands at 24.