Dato' Mohamed Ridza Abdullah

Dato’ Ridza graduated with a First Class (Hons) in law from the International Islamic University Malaysia and is a Graduate ICSA (London). He was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1993. Specialises in corporate, financing and commercial matters, with particular strength in Islamic finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, capital markets, technology and regulated-sector transactions, including oil and gas, energy and property development. He regularly advises on large-scale financing, refinancing and restructuring exercises, complex share acquisitions, and board-level corporate strategy in high-risk and time-sensitive environments. He has extensive experience leading multi-facility Islamic financing transactions, including advising Islamic financial institutions on structuring, documenting and implementing Shariah-compliant financing involving layered security packages, third-party security arrangements and multi-financier refinancing exercises. His work frequently involves close coordination with regulators, financiers, corporate borrowers and other stakeholders to ensure enforceability, regulatory compliance and transaction certainty. Ridza also advises corporates and boards on strategic restructurings, separation schemes and governance responses arising from shareholder disputes and winding-up scenarios, with a strong focus on business continuity, risk containment and sequencing of corporate actions. His practice includes hands-on board engagement, transaction planning, due diligence, and execution-readiness support. In mergers and acquisitions, Ridza advises on share acquisitions, foreign ownership structures and regulatory approvals, particularly in regulated industries such as energy and oil and gas. His experience spans full-cycle M&A work, from legal due diligence and regulatory advisory through transaction structuring, negotiation and completion. As a Shari’ah and common law expert, Ridza leads a prominent Islamic finance practice advising on Shariah-compliant banking, Islamic securities and structured financing across the globe. He was instrumental in structuring and advising the first Islamic finance transaction in Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia. He also negotiates complex international contracts in oil, gas, rail and infrastructure, and advises corporations on financial structuring and tax optimisation in Asia, Europe, Middle east and the USA. Now the Managing Partner of the firm, Ridza has held senior leadership roles across private practice and the corporate sector, including Partner and Division Head at Zaid Ibrahim & Co., General Legal Counsel of Technip Asia Pacific, and Group Legal Adviser of Arab Malaysian Corporation Berhad, where he established and led the Amcorp Group legal department.