Corporate News
GT Bank Kenya chairman Dhann Chandaria (right) with MD Segun Agbaje
during the brand unveiling in Nairobi following its acquisition of Fina
Bank. Photo/FILE
By Herbling David, hdavid@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Chambers & Partners list shows Kenya’s deal market is still dominated by a select group of elite law firms.
- Chambers and Partners’ 2014 list shows that Anjarwalla & Khanna, Coulson Harney and Kaplan & Stratton maintained their standing as the cream of Kenya’s commercial law firms that occupy the coveted Band One of the rankings.
- Hamilton Harrison & Mathews, Iseme, Kamau & Maema Advocates (IKM) and Walker Kontos also maintained their presence in the deals market to stay in Band Two of the rankings.
Kenya’s elite law firms bagged most of the
big-ticket mergers and acquisition deals (M&As) last year to
maintain their stranglehold on the multi-billion-shilling corporate
legal advisory services business and ward off competition from upcoming
rivals, according to a newly released global ranking of lawyers.
Chambers and Partners, the London-based research
company that ranks law firms globally based on the value of the deals
they handled in the past year, says the select group of deep-rooted law
firms beat their rivals to 2013’s most lucrative deals involving
M&As, public listings, corporate restructuring and commercial
dispute resolution to stay at the top.
Chambers and Partners says political stability and
growth opportunities in sectors such as oil and gas, mining,
infrastructure, real estate and financial services were the main drivers
of M&A deals that the premier law firms rode on to remain in the
elite club.
“Economic expansion has been boosted by increased
government investment in infrastructure and agriculture, the rapid
growth of the micro-economic subsector, a dynamic and stable private
sector, and continual innovations in the ICT sector, on-going
discoveries of petroleum reserves and developments in regional
integration,” Chambers & Partners said in a statement.
Chambers and Partners’ 2014 list shows that
Anjarwalla & Khanna, Coulson Harney and Kaplan & Stratton
maintained their standing as the cream of Kenya’s commercial law firms
that occupy the coveted Band One of the rankings.
Hamilton Harrison & Mathews, Iseme, Kamau
& Maema Advocates (IKM) and Walker Kontos also maintained their
presence in the deals market to stay in Band Two of the rankings.
Kenya’s oldest law firm Daly and Figgis finished
in Band 3 ahead of Mboya Wangong’u & Waiyaki Advocates, who broke
into the league of leading law firms with a place in Band 4 of the
rankings alongside Muthaura Mugambi Ayugi & Njonjo Advocates.
The annual Chambers and Partners rankings are a
key barometer of performance in the world of corporate advisory services
that is often used as a reference tool for multinationals looking for
advice in markets where advertising of legal services is restricted.
Anjarwalla & Khanna earned its place in the
top tier of rankings for its handling of a number of
multi-billion-shilling deals including the signing of Kenya’s first coal
concession for Kitui’s Mui Basin.
The agreement between the Kenya government and
Chinese firm Fenxi was completed in December last year. The coal
deposits are estimated to be worth more than Sh3.4 trillion.
The law firm, founded in 1958 in Mombasa, also advised German and French private equity firms DEG and PROPARCO on the reverse takeover involving the exchange of shares in I&M Bank for shares in City Trust (now I&M Holdings) – which listed on the Nairobi bourse last year.
City Trust and I&M Bank were represented in the Sh40 billion transaction by Kaplan & Stratton.
The Coulson Harney partly stayed in the roll of top law firms for its handling of London-based media agency WPP’s acquisition of a bigger stake in media services firm Scangroup through a cash and share swap transaction that was valued at Sh8.21 billion.
The deal saw WPP raise its stake in the Kenyan firm to 50.1 per cent from 31.3 per cent.
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