Clyde & Co advises Al Najah Education on the sale of Dubai's Horizon English School to Cognita

Global law firm Clyde & Co has advised Al Najah Education on the sale of Dubai's Horizon English School to UK-based school operator, Cognita.

Clyde & Co acted as sole legal counsel to Al Najah on all aspects of the transaction, including drafting and negotiating the transaction documents, as well as advising on the real estate aspects of the deal and the transfer of ownership process.  

Al Najah Education is an investment and management group company with a ten-year history of establishing and managing international schools and nurseries across the Middle East and South East Asia. Cognita is a UK-based global education group that operates 82 schools across 11 countries worldwide.

Naji Hawayek, Corporate Partner at Clyde & Co, comments: “This is another landmark transaction for the education sector in the UAE. Horizon English School is awarded "Outstanding" school status by the KHDA, the regulator of schools in Dubai, and the deal illustrates how top tier schools have established themselves as prime targets for education investors in the Middle East.”

Raza Khan, CEO of Al Najah, said: “Al Najah is delighted to have completed the sale of Horizon English School, having grown the school over the years into one of Dubai’s most beloved institutions. Completing such a landmark transaction - to a prestigious international buyer, in the middle of a pandemic - was, understandably, not easy. We could not have done it without our advisors, especially Naji and the team at Clyde & Co.“

The Clyde & Co team was led by Naji Hawayek and Nisha Johar (Senior Associate - Corporate) with support from Peter Greatrex (Partner – Real Estate) and Ghalya Rashid Ali (Associate – Corporate).

Clyde & Co has a top tier Corporate / M&A team in the UAE and is one of the few law firms in the Middle East with a dedicated education team capable of creating and executing education deals. The firm's global education practice spans its network of more than 50 offices across 6 continents and provides commercial and pragmatic advice to education sector clients on all aspects of their business, including in relation to investments, structuring, M&A, regulatory and strategic matters.

Clyde & Co has the largest presence and is one of most experienced international law firms in the Middle East with over 40 partners and 300 staff, based full time in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE, Doha in Qatar, and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The firm supports international investors and local organisations throughout the wider region with a full-service offering of local specialists across most business sectors and areas of law, including commercial, corporate, dispute resolution, employment, intellectual property, international arbitration, finance & banking, insurance, projects & construction, real estate, regulatory & investigations, and technology.