King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin has hired Tom Calnan as head of Real Estate in the Middle East. Tom joins from Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and will be based in the firm’s Dubai office. Tom has been based in Abu Dhabi since 2009, where he helped to launch BLP’s operations in the region, and worked on worked on a number of strategic and high-value projects. He specialises in commercial real estate and has significant experience of transactional property work, including investment acquisitions and disposals, hotels and leisure deals, landlord and tenant transactions and development work. Tom also advises clients in relation to the real estate aspects of property finance and corporate finance transactions.
Tom has been appointed to head up a new Real Estate practice in the Middle East as part of the firm’s concerted drive to invest in the region and follows the opening of the firm’s office in Riyadh (due to open 27th January 2014). Tom brings with him a deep knowledge and experience of the market and has worked on a number of strategic and high-value projects in the Middle East including advising Abu Dhabi Airports Company on the development and subsequent lease of a new Premier Inn hotel at Abu Dhabi International Airport; acting for Hyder Consulting/Capita Symonds in relation to a large scale community development in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi; and advising The Financial Times on its new office space at Twofour54 media zone, Abu Dhabi.
The appointment is especially timely with Dubai winning the World Expo 2020 bid, with the Real Estate sector expected to be the biggest beneficiary with increased demand for new hotels and infrastructure projects.
Stephen Kon, Senior Partner at King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin said: “Following the continuing success of our Dubai office and our recent expansion into Riyadh, we have continued to bolster our Middle East team with Tom’s hire. Real Estate is a core strength of our firm, its international client base means its development in the Middle East is the next logical step of its growth. Tom’s appointment also benefits our wider network as we see the Middle East as a hub through which capital – including Chinese capital - is flowing and positions us to best support our clients.”
Bryan Pickup, head of international Real Estate at King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin, said: “The Real Estate market in the Middle East is booming. There is increasing demand for hotels, leisure facilities and property prices are on the up. All of this makes the region an attractive option for our clients. We’re confident that Tom has the capabilities to drive the group forward and to serve clients investing in UAE real estate, together with regionally based clients investing in real estate globally.”
Tom Calnan said: "It is clear that confidence has returned to the real estate market in the UAE over the past two years. With a host of new projects and developments being projected in 2014, a growing property investment market, and the recent Expo 2020 win for Dubai, it is an extremely exciting time to be involved in the real estate and hospitality sector within the region. King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin are ideally placed to tap into such opportunities given the firm's high-quality global real estate brand, which is now combined with local property expertise in Dubai, the UAE and the Gulf as a whole. The new role at the firm represents a fantastic opportunity for me personally, as well as being integral to the firm's strategic plan for real estate (both within the Gulf and globally), and I will relish the chance to help take this vision forward."
