Pérez-Llorca Launches Abu Dhabi Office, Strengthening Middle East Strategy

Pérez-Llorca has announced the launch of its operations in Abu Dhabi, completing one of the firm’s main international growth initiatives for 2026. The opening reinforces the firm’s commitment to the Middle East, a key region for global investment, and forms part of its international roadmap, which also includes its recently announced entry into the Peruvian market.

Located in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate’s international financial centre, the new office will strengthen Pérez-Llorca’s relationships with leading Middle Eastern financial institutions and support their investments across the jurisdictions where the firm operates. The Abu Dhabi team will work closely with Pérez-Llorca’s offices in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, as well as with its Lusophone Africa practice coordinated from Lisbon and its professionals in London, New York, Brussels and Singapore.

With this opening, Pérez-Llorca becomes the first Ibero-American law firm to establish a physical presence in Abu Dhabi.

The office is led by partner Gonçalo Capela Godinho, who has nearly 25 years of international experience, including several years in Latin America and New York. He has extensive experience advising on complex cross-border transactions and played a key role in establishing and rapidly consolidating Pérez-Llorca’s Lisbon office.

Capela Godinho said that Abu Dhabi has established itself as one of the world’s leading international financial centres and as a meeting point for some of the most significant institutional investors globally. According to him, the firm’s presence in the region will strengthen relationships with existing clients while enabling closer support for investors involved in some of the world’s most significant transactions.

Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer of ADGM, said Pérez-Llorca’s decision to establish an office in Abu Dhabi reflects the Gulf’s growing importance in international investment and business activity. He added that, as capital becomes increasingly global, demand for sophisticated legal and strategic advice continues to grow, and that the firm’s arrival further strengthens the breadth and depth of professional services available at ADGM while reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s role as a platform for international investment and commerce.

Commitment to the Region
The launch of the office comes amid a complex geopolitical environment in the region. However, Pérez-Llorca maintains a long-term view of the Middle East and considers that the economic fundamentals driving growth and international investment across the Gulf remain unchanged.

Since announcing the opening, the firm has reiterated that the project forms part of a structural, rather than cyclical, strategy based on proximity to major international investment centres and on supporting clients wherever new business opportunities emerge.

The firm also noted that, over recent decades, Gulf sovereign wealth funds and major institutional investors have significantly increased their participation in international transactions, becoming key players in sectors including infrastructure, energy, technology, healthcare, real estate and the energy transition.

Pedro Pérez-Llorca, the firm’s Managing Partner, said geopolitical cycles are part of the reality of any international market and that the decision to establish operations in Abu Dhabi reflects a long-term vision and the conviction that the region will continue to play an increasingly important role in global investment flows. He added that the firm remains fully committed to the region and to supporting clients from an international perspective.

International Expansion
The commencement of operations at ADGM marks another step in the consolidation of Pérez-Llorca’s international platform.

The Abu Dhabi office follows the firm’s integration agreement with leading Peruvian law firm Miranda & Amado, announced in May and expected to close in the coming weeks, subject to approval by the governing bodies of both firms.

Iván Delgado, Pérez-Llorca’s International Executive Partner, said that the launch of the ADGM office and the forthcoming integration with Miranda & Amado are complementary milestones within the same international strategy. He stated that the firm aims to be present both in markets that generate capital and in those offering investment and growth opportunities, adding that Abu Dhabi and Lima strengthen Pérez-Llorca’s ability to connect international investors with strategic projects across Europe and Latin America while consolidating a unique Ibero-American platform.

With Abu Dhabi and Lima serving as new growth hubs, Pérez-Llorca continues to develop an Ibero-American platform designed to connect capital, legal talent and investment opportunities across strategic markets, strengthening its ability to support clients and investors in complex cross-border transactions.

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