Key things to look out for when choosing a local partner in Dubai Abu Dhabi UAE

Key things to look out for when choosing
a local partner in Dubai/ Abu Dhabi/ UAE?

Key things to look out for when choosing a local partner in Dubai/ Abu Dhabi/ UAE?

When setting up a local company as per the UAE Companies Law and UAE Civil Law, while most business activities can now be 100% foreign owned there are still some activities where the expatriate shareholders may be required to nominate a Local Service Agent or a Local Partner (Sponsor), who must hold the a share % when establishing a company.

The key consideration is short and long term security:

  1. What are the specific requirements from the relevant governmental departments? Such as ADNOC
  2. Is your partner a true investor?
  3. Is your partner an Individual or a corporate service provider?
  4. What happens in the event of succession?
  5. What Agreements are there? And are they valid?
  6. Where is your sponsor located?
  7. Exit Clauses – can you change sponsor easily in the case of a disagreement?
  8. Reliability of your sponsor?
  9. WPS blocks and mitigating your risk to over exposure to other firms under the same sponsorship
  10. What happens if your sponsor is not available for signings?

If your business activity requires a local partner you may wish to engage with us and our  Local Partner Services