Bio

Firas El Samad is a founding Partner and currently acts as the Managing Partner of the Firm and heads the Competition Law and the Telecommunication Departments in addition to being a leading member within the M&A practice group. Dr.El Samad has been involved in mergers and acquisitions and had played a leading role in many major acquisition deals in the various fields of industry (banking, cement, food production, tourism and telecommunication). Examples include the acquisition of Cairo and Far East Bank by Banque Audi, the acquisition of Misr Romania by Blom Bank, the acquisition by Citadel Capital of ASEC Cement Company, the acquisition by Suez Cement of ASEC Cement Company, the acquisition by Suez Cement of 50% stake of Ready Mix Beton, the acquisition of General Cables Europe of BICC Egypt, the acquisition by Roca of 50 % of Gravena, the acquisition by Goldman Sachs of a stake in Palm Hills Developments, the acquisition of Bisco Misr by Kellogg Company (first competitive mandatory tender offer in Egypt), the acquisition of Mass Food by Kellogg Company, acquisition of General Cables Egypt by EIP, and the acquisition of a minority stake in Ibn Sina pharma by EBRD, among other transactions. Most recently, Dr. El Samad represented Suez Cement Company (a member of the Heidelberg Cement Group) in closing the sale of some of its business assets including the sale of its majority stake in Suez Bags Company to the leading paper manufacturers Austrian based Mondi, via a mandatory tender offer in accordance with the requirements for listed Companies under Egyptian Law. Dr. El Samad has also successfully negotiated a first of its kind in Egypt complex acquisition of the shares/business assets of the Menya located white cement plant of Helwan Cement Company: The deal was structured to effect the sale on the shares of the vertically demerged Menya based spin-off of Helwan Cement Company or the business assets based in Menya as alternatively available structure in the case if the contemplated demerger fails to complete or is excessively delayed for procedural/bureaucratic reasons. Dr. El Samad also advised CIRA, a leading listed company focused on investment in the education sector, in acquiring the majority shares in the British Columbia International School from Wadi Degla. Dr. El Samad is also specialized in telecommunications and information technology. During his past experience, Dr. El Samad has assisted in the drafting and reviewing of software, telecommunications and related services contracts and license agreements, negotiating with the Egyptian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and with other entities/authorities on behalf of a number of his clients and has worked to localize international model agreements for implementation in Egypt. Dr. El Samad also handles Anti-Trust matters and provides clients with advice on the various aspects of Economic Law including the advising on landmark anti-trust litigation in the fields of cement, insurance and media production. Dr.El Samad has been a lecturer in the field of arbitration at the Lebanese University of Beirut from 2000 until 2007. Dr. Firas El Samad obtained a B.A. in Political Science and Public Administration from the American University of Beirut in 1994 and a simultaneously pursued LL.B. from the Lebanese University in 1995. He then obtained a Masters’ Degree (DEA) from the University of Montpellier I in Economic Law in 1997, a Ph.D. (Doctorat en Droit) from the University of Montpellier I, France in Comparative Private Law/Economic Law in 2000, and a Ph.D. from the Lebanese University of Beirut for the same research in the same year.