Published: October 3, 2009
International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is increasing its resources in the Middle East by relocating Tobias Müller-Deku, currently finance and corporate partner in the firm’s Munich office, to the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh. The move will further strengthen the firm’s presence in the Middle East and in Saudi Arabia in particular, with five partners and more than 40 lawyers now based in the region across Freshfields’ network of offices in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, and Riyadh.
From October, Müller-Deku will join forces with corporate partner Patrick Ko and six associates in the Riyadh team. In Saudi Arabia Freshfields also has an association with the local law firm of Salah Al-Hejailan.
In his new function Müller-Deku will help to build up the Saudi finance and securities practice and will also be working on corporate matters. He brings extensive experience from his international practice, having specialised in banking, finance and securities matters since 1994 as well as leading the finance team in Freshfields’ Moscow office between 2000 and 2005.
Edward Braham, global head of corporate at Freshfields, comments: “Despite the region’s resilience to the current global financial crisis, several sectors are now being severely tested in the Middle East. Debt has become more scarce and expensive, and refinancing is requiring more intensive preparation and communication between corporates and lenders. We are very pleased that Tobias will be bringing his extensive experience as a corporate finance advisor to our clients in MENA and Saudi Arabia through is relocation to Riyadh.”