About
Simon is our Head of Asia and the Head of Real Estate and Hotels & Hospitality across Asia and the Middle East.
Simon spent nearly 15 years in the Middle East, having lived and worked in all three jurisdictions where we have offices – Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai. In the past few years, Simon has been based in Asia and splits his time between our Singapore and Hong Kong offices.
Simon specialises in real estate. His main areas of expertise are master planned development projects as well as city centre redevelopment, real estate investment, management and finance. Simon is also recognised as an expert in relation to hotel & hospitality work, particularly in relation to development, investment and management of hotels. He has advised on nearly 50 transactions in the last decade.
In addition, Simon regularly advises our Asia and Middle East clients with their outbound investments into the UK in relation to both commercial as well as residential property.
Simon acts for a variety of developers, financial institutions, government and quasi-government entities, sovereign wealth funds and private clients (including Royal Family members) across Asia and the Middle East.
Simon has been recognised as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global and Legal 500 EMEA consecutively for the last decade.
Simon is admitted to practise in England and Wales, and also a Registered Foreign Lawyer in Singapore and Hong Kong. He is licensed to practice in Dubai with the Legal Affairs Directorate.
Contact:
+65 6991 6273 (SGP)
+852 2531 3445 (HKG)
+971 4246 1902 (DXB)
Experience
- Advising Bahrain Marina Development Company, the master developer of a 300,000 sqm mixed-use master planned development known as the Bahrain Marina Development (Project) with a GDV of circa USD 1 billion and comprising retail, residential and hospitality components. We have advised on all real estate and construction related aspects in relation to the Project including the appointment of the Shangri-La as the hotel operator for the iconic anchor hotel component. Our work on the Project was recognized by the Middle East Legal Awards where we were awarded Real Estate Team Of The Year 2019.
- Advising Gulf Hotels Group (a hotel owner and operator listed on the Bahrain stock exchange) with all legal aspects their acquisition of a 270 key hotel in Business Bay, Dubai. This was a key acquisition for Gulf Hotels Group given the size of the property and the fact that this was their first hotel in the UAE.
- Advising a multitude of internationally based private clients in relation to UK property investment. Work has included acting on the sale of two commercial properties in London (2 Lucan Place and 154 Bayswater) as well as UK residential transactions with an estimated cumulative value of over GBP 75m.
