Hogan Lovells advises Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons on their joint venture with Watchbox

Press releases | 18 November 2019

Dubai, 18 November 2019 – Hogan Lovells has advised Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons (Seddiqi), UAE’s leading retailer of luxury watches and jewelry, on its joint venture with WatchBox, the world’s leading platform for the buying, selling, and trading of pre-owned luxury watches. Headquartered in the U.S., WatchBox has offices in Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, South Africa, and now, the Middle East.

The joint venture will establish a retail outlet in Dubai, fully integrated into WatchBox's platforms, which will allow regional clients to sell into and access WatchBox's extensive pre-owned inventory.

The joint venture also will allow WatchBox the benefit of using Seddiqi's certified service and repair facility in Dubai, which will be used not just for the benefit of the joint venture but also for additional WatchBox operations globally.

Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons is recognized as a pioneer amongst the leading retailers in the Middle East, with an extensive portfolio of more than 60 luxury timepieces and jewelry brands, and this joint venture represents their first entry into the fast growing pre-owned luxury watch sector.

The Hogan Lovells team was led by Kelly Tubman Hardy (Partner, Baltimore / Washington D.C.) and Imtiaz Shah (Partner, Dubai), with support from Erin Kiem (Senior Associate, Dubai). The Hogan Lovells team worked closely with Seddiqi’s in-house legal and commercial teams.

Hogan Lovells has a strong track record of assisting global retail clients and luxury goods brands with their Middle Eastern operations, including similar transactions. We were approached by Seddiqi to advise them given our market leading position in these types of transactions.