Omar Handoush

Languages Spoken

English and Arabic

Practice Areas

Banking & Finance

Project Finance

Debt Capital Markets

Private Equity

Islamic Finance

Career

Omar is a Partner and Head of Al Tamimi & Company’s Kuwait office.

He joined the firm in 2014 and has acted as Head of Banking & Finance since 2016.

Prior to joining Al Tamimi & Company, Omar was an Associate at Greenberg Traurig, LLP in the United States.

Omar’s experience includes representing both lenders and companies in a variety of conventional and Islamic finance transactions. Omar has extensive experience in structuring, negotiating and advising clients on a wide variety of finance and acquisition transactions. His clients include regional, European and US banks, government entities and corporate borrowers. Most recently, Omar has served as counsel on both the financier and borrower side of a number of Shari’a complaint transactions.

Professional Memberships

2014 – American Bar Association

2009 – State California Bar

Work Highlights

Advised Kuwait National Petroleum Company on world’s largest ECA financing for corporate purposes.

Advised Kuwait National Petroleum Company on its multi-billion dollar financing of the Clean Fuel Project.

Advised Warba Bank in its US$250 million sukuk issuance.

Advised the Commercial Bank of Kuwait in an 83.3 million Kuwait dinar cash and non-cash financing of the New Maternity Hospital project in Kuwait.

Advised Standard Chartered Bank and a syndicate of lenders to Alabbar Enterprises in connection with the financing of the US$2.4 billion acquisition of Kuwait Food Company (Americana).

Advised Boubyan Bank in its US$250 million sukuk issuance (recognized as “Debt & Equity Deal of the Year 2016” by the International Financial Law Review).

Advised Warba Bank in an Islamic compliant transaction in connection with its acquisition of USD$ 66 million auto finance portfolio (recognized as “Domestic Deal of the Year 2015” by the International Financial Law Review and “Structured Finance Deal of the Year 2015” by the Islamic Finance News).

Advised Kuwait International Bank in a US $320 million syndicated murabaha financing.