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Award

WFW honoured once more as Legal Consultant of the Year by MESIA20 January 2025

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has been awarded ‘Legal Consultant of the Year’ by the Middle East Solar Industry Association (“MESIA”) for the second time at their 2025 annual awards ceremony, held in Abu Dhabi.

WFW was celebrated for advising the Arab Banking Corporation (“Bank ABC”) on a long-term non-recourse debt financing facility for Yellow Door Energy (“YDE”), a leading sustainable energy partner for commercial and industrial businesses in the Middle East, Africa and beyond.

The facility is intended to refinance the acquisition, design, commissioning and construction costs for a cross-border portfolio of distributed rooftop solar projects across the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. Comprising 25 solar photovoltaic assets, the portfolio totals over 42 MW of renewable energy. The offtaker is a leading retail corporation with operations and assets across the Middle East. WFW advised on a suite of finance and security agreements, as well as on the underlying project documents, with BankABC acting as the mandated lead arranger, facility agent and international security agent.

MESIA promotes solar power in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Through its well-established awards program, now in its twelfth edition, they recognise exceptional talent and achievements in the MENA solar industry.

Bank ABC, headquartered in Manama, Bahrain, is a leading international commercial bank focussed on linking the MENA region with global financial markets and providing innovative financial solutions to its clients.

The WFW Dubai team that advised Bank ABC was led by Assets and Structured Finance Partner Michael Savva, supported by Projects Associate Rachel Lee, Corporate Associate Samaa Abdalla and Trainees William Stewart and Alexander Belsey.

Lead partner Michael commented: “We are thrilled to have won Legal Consultant of the Year for the second time in four years by MESIA. This award highlights the strength of our robust finance practice and deep knowledge of the energy transition and solar sector. We are extremely grateful to BankABC and Yellow Door for their confidence and commercial vision in entrusting us with this innovative, cross-border transaction. Congratulations to everyone involved”.

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