Full Profile
The global education practice provides joined-up commercial, pragmatic and innovative advice to education sector clients on all aspects of their business. The Clyde & Co global education team operates across the Clyde & Co global network of 50+ offices, with a particular focus on the MENA region, Asia (from offices in Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore), Africa, India, Australia and the UK. The education team has been praised as being the "go to people in structuring and advising on international school partnerships" and acts for many leading names in the sector.
Ross regularly advises investors and international operators on education investments, market entry, international expansion, corporate and regulatory matters. Ross is based in the UAE but operates on a global level, supporting education clients on their international expansion.
Ross is described as "showing a grasp of school start-ups and partnership agreements" (Legal 500 2016) and "a friend, philosopher and guide to educators" (Digital Learning Magazine 2016).
Experience
- Advising Aldar Properties PJSC on its USD 1.17 billion acquisition of four prime Grade A commercial towers in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) from Mubadala Investment Company. The acquisition represents one of the largest real estate transactions in the UAE.
- Advising Aldar Properties PJSC on its AED 810 million acquisition of the beachfront resort, DoubleTree by Hilton Resort & Spa Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.
- Advising Jacobs Holding AG on its acquisition of the Cognita global private schools group from KKR and Bregal, which is the Swiss investment fund’s largest UK takeover to date
- Advising on the disposal of Global Process Systems' mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) leasing business to Petrofac in the UAE and Malaysia.
- Advising Copart Inc on the acquisition of Ridesafely Middle East LLC, a Dubai based auction business specialising in the auctioning of insurance write off vehicles.
- Advising on a proposed private equity investment by a regional private equity house in a private education company based in Kuwait.
- Advising the shareholders of an Abu Dhabi based defence manufacturing company on the proposed part disposal of the company and the forming of a strategic joint venture between the existing shareholders and the new shareholder.
- Advising a large Abu Dhabi based holding company on its acquisition of an international restaurant franchise business including operations in UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia with development rights over the Middle East region.
- Advising Borealis AG in relation to the expansion of its world-scale petrochemicals project (Borouge) with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
- Advising Novus Capital Holdings, an Abu Dhabi investment company, on all of its direct investments and joint ventures, including joint ventures in the IT, residential community management, military equipment supply and maintenance, healthcare, education, engineering and construction sectors.
- Advising Assetco plc on its strategic joint venture with a local defence company for the provision of fire fighting services to the Abu Dhabi defence sector.
- Advising an Abu Dhabi real estate investment company on a number of significant joint ventures with UK companies in the field of car park infrastructure and parking enforcement.
- Advising an Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange listed industrial company on its aborted rights issue and subsequent corporate re-structuring.
- Advising an Abu Dhabi based financial institution on its aborted IPO and proposed listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
- Advising a UK plc listed on AIM in relation to its aborted secondary listing on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
