Farah Zafar

Managing Director & Group Chief Legal Officer for Phoenix Group - a global tech, blockchain and crypto mining conglomerate, based in the UAE, and listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange 🙏

As Head of Capital Transactions, Farah was mandated to attract, structure and secure local, institutional and regional capital to Dubai Holdings. She was responsible for structuring, negotiating and closing corporate and commercial transactions from a financial, investment and legal perspective. She was responsible for attracting and maintaining all key relationships with investors, capital, development and funding partners and succesfully secured over AED 11.3BN worth of inward project capital due to her ability to secure and structure local, foreign and institutional capital.

Anwaar Majan is an investment and development company based in Dubai, Oman and London. As Group General Counsel, Farah has been fully responsible for all commercial matters, corporate transaction matters and government to government transactions in the areas of energy, real estate, advisory and investments. Farah headed up its real estate arm and handled all corporate and investment transactions for and on behalf of the Government of Oman and Africa. She headed all negotiations in government to government transactions in the areas of oil, energy, development and infrastructure projects.

Tanween is a quasi government development management and investment company based in Qatar, which is owned by Barwa and The First Investor. It is a fully fledged development company which acts as a development manager for its shareholders' prestigious projects and also develops, invests in and manages real estate projects in Qatar and the GCC region. Farah was appointed as Chief Legal Officer to manage the existing legal team of 5 lawyers together with an emphasis on building an international team to support Tanween’s existing business, its expansion and growth of its international portfolio and the incorporation of real estate regional funds. Farah advised the board on corporate restructuring matters, risk mitigation, expansion and diversification plans and handled international start ups, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. She also managed the day to day requirements of all departments contained within Tanween (including, finance, tenders, development and project teams) and actively assisted the Supreme Committee 2022 on their legal tendering process and development matters. She was heavily involved in transaction and investment related work as well as the setting up of successful healthcare and education funds . Transactions included, but not limited to; • Drafted the first legal tender for the Project Manager that was submitted by Supreme Committee 2022 • Set up an investment fund for real estate development • Set up various funds to invest in medical and healthcare facilities in Qatar and the GCC • Large master plan real estate development in Al Khobar, KSA and Qatar • Joint Venture with prominent medical group for developing hospitals and medical facilities in Qatar • Negotiated, Structured and drafted long lease and development contracts for prominent developments

Farah was one of the core 7 executive team members that built this real estate investment and development company and managed a legal team of 10 lawyers. She was responsible for all real estate, investment, corporate and commercial matters.

Global was a commercial holding, investment and project development company with a vast array of Investments both in the UAE, GCC and Europe and represented a consortium of international companies across the Gulf in the areas of construction, architecture and engineering services. Farah’s role as Senior Legal Counsel meant that she was responsible for all corporate investments on behalf of the group from the very outset of negotiating the heads of terms to carrying out legal due diligence, drafting all corporate /commercial agreements, negotiating the terms thereon, providing legal opinions to the shareholders, drafting, advising and negotiating all corporate / finance documents and handling the transaction from inception to completion. Further, she handled all commercial activities of the group including joint venture agreements, franchising, supply and distribution on behalf of their consortium of companies and reviewed all tender preparation documents, bid documents, contract analysis for the companies and their projects. This was a great platform for understanding and appreciating complex investment structures as she worked closely with Dexia Bank and Centuria in Geneva.

The Engineers Office was the Rulers Office Construction and Design wing. It was responsible for many prestigious personal and commercial projects on behalf of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Projects included the Emirates Towers Hotel, Dusit Dubai Hotel, Dubai Creek and Golf Club, Dubai Airport expansion, Palm Island and other related projects. Farah was solely responsible for all corporate/commercial matters, construction / design related matters and all regional and international investments together with the internal legal operations and risk management of 7 group companies. Headhunted from the UK and being the sole legal counsel reporting directly to the Chairman and the Board, her role required her to handle a broad range of construction, corporate and commercial matters for the Group, including negotiating, advising and drafting all corporate and commercial deals, investments, construction and design projects and all UAE litigation matters.

Farah worked with an amazing team of UK Partners and supported them with the drafting, due diligence and legal opinions on all corporate transactions including mergers, takeovers, joint ventures, asset sale and purchase agreements, distribution and agency agreements together with the drafting of finance documents such as loan and debt financing, option agreements, guarantees and debentures. Private client work included restructuring of group companies, offshore trusts and advising on litigation issues. She also represented VIP clients such as the Ruling Families of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, high profile entrepreneurs and celebrities in commercial and company matters.