Louise Vun

Partner, Dubai

Biography

Overview

Louise is a partner in our Dubai office who has developed considerable experience in a wide range of real estate and hospitality matters in the Middle East over her seventeen years in the region. She is one of the very few specialists in the region that has genuine regional hands-on experience of advising on master community developments, mixed use developments, jointly owned property developments, gated communities and strata scheme developments.

Her wider real estate experience covers real estate finance, sale and leasebacks, restructurings and joint ventures. She is also familiar with the structural requirements of Sharia-compliant real estate transactions.

Louise has worked on some of the market's first real estate transactions in the Middle East structured for international institutional investors.

She represents a wide range of clients including government entities, international and local corporates, luxury fashion houses, hotel and resort owners, high-net-worth individuals, airport operators, oil field operators, school operators, private equity firms, project sponsors, sellers, purchasers, investors, owners, developers, lenders, borrowers to landlords and tenants.

Louise is also a registered Will Draftsman with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Wills Service Centre.

Bars and Courts
New South Wales
High Court of Australia
Education
Bachelor of Laws
Murdoch University

Australia

Bachelor of Commerce
Accounting and Finance
University of Western Australia
Bachelor of Science
Biochemistry
University of Western Australia
Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice
College of Law

Australia

Post Graduate Diploma in Chartered Accounting

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand

Languages
English
Hakka
Mandarin

Experience

Representative examples of our experience include:

Advised a government linked operator on the operation of a golf course.

Advised a GCC REIT on the acquisition of a logistic facility in Oman and acquisition of a tenanted commercial building in UAE. 

Advised a school operator on the sale of two schools in Dubai based on a sale and leaseback model.

Advised various government linked master developers on all aspects of the strata / jointly owned property law, including preparing template sale and purchase agreements, disclosure statements, and master community declaration, building rules and regulations etc.

Under the direction of the Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Agency, Louise has chaired various contentious JOP owners' association annual general meeting and extraordinary general meeting.

Advised a Dubai government linked entity on its various development of industrial and logistic facilities on a built-to-suit model for use by international investors.

Advised a private master developer on its greenfield development of an economic city / freezone in the GCC, including advised on the setting up of a one-stop-shop as freezone regulator, applying to the relevant authorities for freehold status, drafting the rules and regulations for the freezone, and preparing template usufruct and lease agreements for use by investors within the zone.

Awards and Recognition

"Louise Vun is well versed in real estate matters and is acknowledged by peers as someone with a rising profile in the market". 
"She's very good – very customer oriented and very smart." 
Chambers Global (2019), UAE, Real Estate

"Commercial and responsive, and is commended for the great depth of experience. Strata law is a notable strong suit."
Legal 500 (2019), UAE, Real Estate 

"Louise Vun is praised for her commercial acumen" 
Chambers Global (2013), UAE, Real Estate