Financial institutionsEnergyInfrastructure, mining and commoditiesTransportTechnology and innovationLife sciences and healthcare

Norton Rose FulbrightIn Morocco

02 Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright

North Africa has rich natural resources and an advanced financial institutions sector; its wealth is growing rapidly. We have been active in the region for 15 years, advising corporates, financial institutions and state entities. Our presence in Morocco and support from experienced lawyers across Norton Rose Fulbright offices allow us to provide broad corporate and commercial advice to regional organisations and to foreign investors in North Africa and francophone sub-Saharan Africa. We are strong in energy, infrastructure, telecommunications, financial institutions and real estate. We advise on local and international law.

Norton Rose Fulbright 03

Morocco

Lawyers in Casablanca

10Partners in Casablanca

2

Offices Casablanca

Tier 1 Alain Malek – General business law Chambers Global – Morocco 2015

Tier 1 Corporate and M&A Projects and public law Tourism and real estateLegal 500 EMEA – Morocco 2015

Tier 1 Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia (international firms)IFLR 1000 2014

Tier 1 Corporate/commercialChambers Global – Africa-wide 2015

CasablancaMorocco’s geographical position and its sophisticated regulatory framework combine to make it a natural regional hub for trade with Europe and with French-speaking central and west African countries. We established an office in Casablanca in 2011 in recognition of its importance to the region. Morocco’s compelling record of investments in its infrastructure is an indicator of its future ambitions, as is its progress in developing renewable energy sources to offset its dependence on imported energy.

Our global legal practice in Morocco has an established reputation for its knowledge of legal and economic issues, combined with a deep understanding of the country’s cultural and political background. We are also well positioned to assist clients across our key industry sectors as they expand into sub-Saharan Africa.

Practice strengths

Antitrust and competitionBanking and financeCapital markets (debt, equity)ComplianceCorporate, M&A and securitiesIslamic financeProject financeReal estateRegulations and investigations

Industry strengths

EnergyFinancial institutionsInfrastructureReal estateTechnology and innovationTransport

Selected clients

Abeinsa Business DevelopmentAbraaj CapitalAIGAkwa GroupAlliances Développement ImmobilierAttijariwafa BankBest Financière/Label’VieCaisse de Dépôt et de GestionChevronCompagnie Générale ImmbilièreDelta International Property FundEngie/La Compagnie du VentGroupe AvrilHolcimMaersk DrillingMaghreb SteelMandarin Oriental HotelMoroccan Agency for Solar EnergyPalmeraie DéveloppementSociété GénéraleVermeg

‘Norton Rose Fulbright is praised for its “mastery of the M&A process and good knowledge of the Moroccan legal environment”. It continues to receive instructions from longstanding clients – both domestic and international – and also picked up a number of new clients in key sectors such as energy, financial services and logistics.’Legal 500 2015

‘Alain Malek manages the Casablanca office as well as the firm’s North African group. He focuses on M&A transactions and is praised for his “very strong and deep knowledge of the Moroccan market.”’Chambers Global 2015

‘Anne Lapierre leads the energy practice at Norton Rose Fulbright. She advises lenders and investors on project financing and development as well as corporate transactions in the energy space.’Legal 500 2015

04 Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright

Casablanca highlights

Morocco’s commitment to solar energyWe have advised Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy on the development and financing of NOORo II and NOORo III concentrating solar power (CSP) projects. NOORo II is a CSP parabolic trough project with a capacity of 200MW and NOORo III is a CSP tower project with a capacity of 150MW. The total combined cost for NOORo II and III projects is around $2 billion. We have been selected by MASEN to act as advisor for the launch of NOOR IV consisting of the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of 3 PV plants located in Ouarzazate, Laayoune and Boujdour with a contemplated aggregate capacity of 170MW. This is the continuation of a series of vast solar projects planned in Morocco; the country is aiming to become a world class renewable energy producer for both internal consumption and export.

PSA Peugeot Citroën invests in MoroccoWe advised PSA Peugeot Citroen on its first direct investment in Africa with an assembly plant in Morocco scheduled to start production in 2019. The new factory near the city of Kenitra will start with a capacity to build 100,000 vehicles a year by 2019 and 200,000 vehicles a year by 2023. This is a landmark investment for PSA Peugeot Citroen that plans to expand its presence in Africa and the Middle-East, a historic market for which the company has greater ambitions for the next decade.

Yassamine Schools’ network expands in MoroccoWe advised the TPG/ Satya joint venture on the acquisition of a minority stake in the Yassamine Schools, one of Morocco’s largest private schools network. The TPG/Satya joint venture has been created in June 2015 as an alliance between Satya Capital Limited and TPG Growth, the capital development platform of the US capital investment company TPG Group. This is their first investment in Africa as part of their strategy to develop in the region. The agreement will allow Yassamine Schools to expand in Morocco and grow its organisation in neighboring countries.

Best Financière’s/Label’Vie strengthens its presence in West AfricaWe advised Best Financière/Label’Vie on the acquisition by Best Financière and Amethis Finance, a French investment fund dedicated to Africa, of a shareholding in Compagnie de Distribution de Côte d’Ivoire (CDCI), one of the key players of the retail and food market in Côte d’Ivoire. Today CDCI is co-leader with Prosuma in the food and retail sector in Côte d’Ivoire, with 127 stores. With this acquisition Best Financière, the Moroccan leader in the food and retail through its subsidiary Label Vie will strengthen its presence in West Africa.

Cooper Pharma and PHI constitute a joint venture in Morocco with CiplaWe assisted Société Marocaine De Coopération Pharmaceutique (Cooper Pharma) and the Pharmaceutical Institute (PHI), leading Moroccan pharmaceutical companies, in their project to create a joint venture in Morocco with the UK subsidiary of Indian giant Cipla. In addition to assisting Cooper Pharma and PHI on the corporate aspects of the transaction, we also provided competition law advice. This case raised the issue of whether the new entity was a ‘full function joint venture’, concept which was integrated in the Moroccan legislation by the 2014 reform. The purpose of the project was to rationalize the organisation of manufacturing and sale on a wholesale basis of medicines dedicated to respiratory and neurological disorders. This high value-added agreement could enable our clients to capture new markets from Morocco.

Vivendi divests Maroc Telecom stake in EtisalatWe advised the Moroccan government on the sale of Vivendi’s shareholding in Maroc Telecom to Etisalat. The Emirati telecoms group acquired 53 per cent control of Maroc Telecom, and the Moroccan state remains a minority shareholder. The transaction worth €4.2 billion has been highlighted as one of the major M&A transactions in the Moroccan Kingdom over the past years.

Contacts

Alain MalekPartnerNorton Rose Fulbright Morocco, SARLTel +212 529 09 00 60alain.malek@nortonrosefulbright.com

Anne LapierrePartner – Head of Energy for EMEANorton Rose Fulbright Morocco, SARLTel +212 529 09 00 60anne.lapierre@nortonrosefulbright.com

Norton Rose Fulbright Morocco, SARLImmeuble Merbouha,10 bis rue Ali AbderrazakCasablancaMorocco

Tel +212 529 09 00 60 Fax +212 529 09 00 61

RUE ABOU AL MAHASSINE ROYANI

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ALI A

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ASSAKHAOUI

BOULEVARD ABDELKRIM EL KHATTABI

BOULEVARD BIR ANZARANE

BLVD D’ANFA

BOULEVARD AL MASSIRA AL KHADRA

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Morocco

Global resources

Our office locations

People worldwide

7400Legal staff worldwide

3800+Offices

50+

EuropeAmsterdamAthensBrusselsFrankfurtHamburgLondon

MilanMoscowMunichParisPiraeusWarsaw

United StatesAustinDallas Denver Houston Los AngelesMinneapolis

New York Pittsburgh-Southpointe St Louis San Antonio Washington DC

CanadaCalgaryMontréalOttawa

QuébecToronto

Latin America BogotáCaracasRio de Janeiro

AsiaBangkokBeijingHong KongJakarta1

ShanghaiSingaporeTokyo

AustraliaBrisbaneMelbournePerthSydney

AfricaBujumbura3

Cape TownCasablancaDar es SalaamDurbanHarare3

JohannesburgKampala3

Middle EastAbu DhabiBahrainDubaiRiyadh2

Central AsiaAlmaty

Key industry strengths Financial institutionsEnergyInfrastructure, mining and commoditiesTransportTechnology and innovationLife sciences and healthcare

Global resources

Norton Rose Fulbright is a global legal practice. We provide the world’s pre-eminent corporations and fi nancial institutions with a full business law service. We have more than 3800 lawyers and other legal staff based in more than 50 cities across Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

1 Susandarini & Partners in association with Norton Rose Fulbright Australia

2 Mohammed Al-Ghamdi Law Firm in association with Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

3 Alliances

06 Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law fi rm. We provide the world’s preeminent corporations and fi nancial institutions with a full business law service. We have more than 3800 lawyers and other legal staff based in more than 50 cities across Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Recognized for our industry focus, we are strong across all the key industry sectors: fi nancial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and life sciences and healthcare.

Wherever we are, we operate in accordance with our global business principles of quality, unity and integrity. We aim to provide the highest possible standard of legal service in each of our offi ces and to maintain that level of quality at every point of contact.

Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, Norton Rose Fulbright Australia, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP and Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa Inc are separate legal entities and all of them are members of Norton Rose Fulbright Verein, a Swiss verein. Norton Rose Fulbright Verein helps coordinate the activities of the members but does not itself provide legal services to clients.

References to ‘Norton Rose Fulbright’, ‘the law fi rm’, and ‘legal practice’ are to one or more of the Norton Rose Fulbright members or to one of their respective affi liates (together ‘Norton Rose Fulbright entity/entities’). No individual who is a member, partner, shareholder, director, employee or consultant of, in or to any Norton Rose Fulbright entity (whether or not such individual is described as a ‘partner’) accepts or assumes responsibility, or has any liability, to any person in respect of this communication. Any reference to a partner or director is to a member, employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifi cations of the relevant Norton Rose Fulbright entity. The purpose of this communication is to provide information as to developments in the law. It does not contain a full analysis of the law nor does it constitute an opinion of any Norton Rose Fulbright entity on the points of law discussed. You must take specifi c legal advice on any particular matter which concerns you. If you require any advice or further information, please speak to your usual contact at Norton Rose Fulbright.

© Norton Rose Fulbright Morocco, SARL NRF23899 12/15 (UK) Extracts may be copied provided their source is acknowledged.

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