Nine practice areas, one transaction team.

Energy & Extractives

Renewable generation is where a great deal of our transactional work sits: solar C&I, captive generation and off-grid projects across Kenya and South Sudan.

We advise developers, sponsors, lenders and offtakers from project structuring through to commissioning. That covers land and wayleave arrangements, generation and offtake documentation, EPC and O&M contracts, licensing before the sector regulator, and the equity and debt that funds it.

• Grid-tie captive power and IPP structuring
• Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) arrangements
• Off-grid and mini-grid solar PV projects
• Power purchase and offtake agreements
• Licensing, permits and regulatory compliance
• Equity investment and project debt into energy assets

Representative Lead counsel to Ofgen Limited on grid-tie captive solar projects with a combined capacity of over 20 MW; and on a 350 kWp off-grid solar PV plant at UAP Towers, Juba, on a DBOT structure.

The full energy practice →

Banking & Finance

We act for lenders and borrowers on facility documentation, security creation and the perfection work that decides whether a facility is actually enforceable.

Our clients include Kenyan commercial banks, saccos, development finance institutions and offshore lenders taking Kenyan security. We are comfortable on both sides of the table and we know how long each registry step genuinely takes.

• Facility agreements, term sheets and security documentation
• Creation, registration and perfection of security
• Development finance and DFI facility drawdown
• Lender-side legal due diligence and legal opinions
• Sacco and microfinance lending frameworks
• Debt restructuring and enforcement

Representative Advisory support to Torrent East Africa Limited on the perfection of a €2,000,000 facility from COFIDES, the Spanish development finance institution.

Corporate & Commercial

Joint ventures, equity investments, acquisitions, group restructuring and the governance that has to work afterwards.

We advise on the whole arc, from structuring and diligence through transaction documents and completion mechanics to the post-closing filings and constitutional changes that make the deal real. We also handle the ongoing commercial contracting that follows.

• Joint ventures and shareholder arrangements
• Mergers, acquisitions and equity investments
• Corporate restructuring and amalgamation
• Incorporation, licensing and company secretarial support
• Corporate governance and governance audit
• Commercial contracting and regulatory compliance

Representative Co-counsel on the corporate restructuring and amalgamation of 911 Limited, First Force Security Limited and Cartrack Limited to form 911 Group Limited.

Projects, Infrastructure & PPPs

Concession tendering and structuring, transmission and port infrastructure, and the public-private partnership frameworks that govern them.

Infrastructure work sits at the intersection of procurement law, sector regulation, land and finance. We coordinate those workstreams and the public-sector counterparties that come with them.

• PPP structuring, tendering and concession agreements
• Procurement advice and bid support
• Transmission, ports and logistics infrastructure
• Land acquisition and resettlement workstreams
• Asset and liability transfers between public entities
• Government and county-level stakeholder engagement

Representative Representing China Merchants Holding Ltd on the tendering and structuring of the concession for operation of the Second Container Terminal, Port of Mombasa, on a PPP basis.

Real Estate & Conveyancing

Development structuring and volume conveyancing, including affordable housing schemes running to thousands of units.

We act for developers, financiers and purchasers from land assembly through to transfer, and we build the documentation systems that let a large scheme sell without the legal process becoming the bottleneck.

• Development structuring and joint venture arrangements
• Affordable housing and large residential schemes
• Title investigation, transfers and charges
• Leases, subleases and commercial occupancy
• Purchaser sale agreement suites and completion
• Land disputes and adverse claims

Representative Legal counsel to Utawala Four Forty Development Limited on its affordable housing project (KES 3,000,000,000) and to Eboss Investments Company Limited on 143 Brookview (KES 2,000,000,000).

Cross-border Transactions

Market entry, incorporation and licensing in South Sudan, Somalia and Somaliland, with named practice group leads in each.

Cross-border work fails on local detail: a registry practice, a licensing sequence, a ministry that wants the filing a particular way. We staff each jurisdiction with someone who has done it before, and we run the Kenyan side of inbound investment for European, Asian and pan-African investors.

• Market entry and establishment structuring
• Banking and insurance licensing in new jurisdictions
• Joint ventures with sovereign and state counterparties
• Inbound investment into Kenya and East Africa
• Multi-jurisdiction closing coordination
• Cross-border security and enforcement analysis

Representative Advising on the incorporation, establishment and licensing of Britam Insurance Company South Sudan Limited and CIC Insurance South Sudan; and representing Co-operative Bank of Kenya on a joint venture with the Government of the Republic of South Sudan.

Dispute Resolution

Commercial litigation, arbitration and recovery before the Kenyan courts and tribunals, led by advocates who try cases rather than only paper them.

Our disputes team handles complex commercial matters alongside land, succession, family and employment disputes, and we have an associate arbitrator among our consultants for matters that belong in arbitration rather than court.

• Commercial and contractual litigation
• Arbitration and alternative dispute resolution
• Land and environment court proceedings
• Succession and probate
• Debt recovery and enforcement
• Injunctive and urgent relief

Representative Complex litigation across commercial law, land law, succession, family law, employment law and debt recovery, handled by our dispute resolution associates.

Employment & Labour

Restructuring and redundancy, contracts and policy, executive arrangements, and disputes before the Employment and Labour Relations Court.

Employment questions usually arrive attached to something else, such as a restructuring, an acquisition or a shock like a pandemic. We advise on the employment workstream inside those transactions as well as on standalone disputes.

• Contracts of service, policies and handbooks
• Restructuring, redundancy and separation
• Executive and senior appointments
• Disciplinary process and unfair termination claims
• Employment aspects of M&A and outsourcing
• Immigration and work permit support

Representative Advising Horizon Group Limited on various labour and employment law matters arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Competition Law

Merger notification and clearance, restrictive practice advice, and the compliance programmes that keep a growing group out of trouble.

Competition clearance is often the item that sets the closing date on a transaction. We build the notification into the timetable from the start rather than discovering it at signing.

• Merger notification and clearance before the Competition Authority of Kenya
• COMESA Competition Commission filings
• Exclusions and exemption applications
• Restrictive trade practice and abuse of dominance advice
• Distribution, supply and pricing arrangements
• Compliance programmes and training

Representative Competition clearance workstreams run alongside our corporate and energy transactions, sequenced so that clearance does not become the item that moves completion.