Leopold Zentner

Leopold advises on corporate and transactional matters across the MENA region (where he has been based since early 2006), with particular experience in the UAE, Libya, Oman and Saudi Arabia. He has held senior roles within international law firms as well as in-house positions at Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) focusing on M&A and Joint Ventures and the Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company (Dussur) (a joint venture of SABIC, Aramco and PIF) where he was leading all legal aspects of its investment activities and he was a member of its management committee. He regularly advises on complex corporate transactions, governance frameworks and strategic investments across emerging and developing markets. Through the mix of in-house and international law firm experience, Leopold has exceptional insights as to delivery of legal services, ensuring always that these are delivered with the ultimate objective in mind and such legal advice being underpinned by commercial acumen. He further prides himself for not merely understanding the law, but also the practical challenges that may arise in connection with any given transaction. Leopold has a particular interest in supporting diversification initiatives across the region and in strengthening corporate governance, risk management and compliance structures as well as operating in frontier markets (for example, he was part of the Clyde & Co team spearheading the establishment of the first office of an international law firm in post Gaddafi Libya and he was part of the team authoring the Companies Law in Afghanistan – an effort support by the World Bank). He also works closely with clients on embedding ESG principles and diversity and inclusion objectives within their corporate culture. In 2017, Leopold lectured law at the Zambian Institute of Advanced Legal Education as part of a Pro-Bono initiative. Leopold is also a strong believer in legal technology and the use of such technology to deliver innovative and more efficient legal solutions. He has also developed his own podcast on A&I.