Commercial

Our Lawyers advise on all areas of Kenyan business and company law and many of its lawyers are leaders in this area. The Firm has a large, well-established and reputable Corporate and Commercial Legal Department, which provides the following range of legal services.

Incorporations and Company Secretarial Services

Advising on the incorporation and registration of Kenyan companies, foreign companies and other trading entities including Banks, Insurance Companies, Micro-Finance Enterprises, Non Government Organizations, Trusts, Export Processing Zones Venture Capital and Joint Venture Companies and Partnerships.

We also have a secretarial services division, DF Secretarial Services, which provides a wide range of company secretarial services.

Restructuring

We advise on the reorganization and restructuring of companies or groups and advising on the structuring of commercial transactions to ensure that they are conducted in the most cost/tax efficient manner.

Regulatory and Compliance

Our lawyers advise on regulatory and compliance matters and business licensing in all sectors of the economy including Retail and Wholesale trading, Banking, Building Societies, Sacco’s, Insurance and Re-insurance, Telecommunications, Mining, Power and Energy Sector, Environmental Law, Competition, Capital Markets and the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

We regularly advise both Kenyan and foreign clients on Kenyan employment/labour law issues such as employing workers, drafting employment terms and conditions, handling disputes and grievances, disciplinary, redundancy and dismissal.

Contracts

We undertake, drafting and advising on all types of commercial contracts/agreements including:

• Leasing Contracts
• Supply Contracts
• Management Contracts
• Distribution and Franchise Agreements
• Shareholders and Partnership Agreements
• Computer software and Licensing Agreements
• Parastatal Contracts and Governmental Contracts
• Employment, Management and Consultancy Contracts

Due Diligence

Our Commercial lawyers have a wealth of experience in conducting due diligence in the course of undertaking commercial transactions. We have a well-prepared and organized approach to the exercise, from preparing the initial scope of the due diligence to carrying out full investigations and fully reporting on the findings as well as providing solutions and fatal flaw analysis. In addition to preparing due diligence reports, we also provide legal opinions as required both in respect of transactions as a whole and/or in respect of Kenyan law and specific legal issues

Indicative Work Experience 

• Acting for Vodafone Group Plc in regard to the sale by Vodafone International Holdings BV of an 87.5% shareholding in Vodafone Kenya Ltd, the owner of 40% of Safaricom.
• Acting on a number of acquisitions including: Old Mutual of UAP Holdings (the largest value transaction in Kenya in recent years) and Faulu Microfinance Bank; AON Group Plc of AON Kenya Insurance Brokers and Britam Insurance of Real Insurance Kenya.
• Advising Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) funded bv the Department for International Development of the UK, on their establishment in Kenya and drafting terms of Grant and Finance Agreements with the Uganda National Roads Authority, Kenya Highway Authority and the Kenya Ports Authority, in regard to TMEA providing financial assistance for improvement of road and/or port facilities in the respective countries.
• Advising Thomas Cook India and Private Safaris on the sale of Private Safaris by Kuoni Travel Group to Thomas Cook India.
• Advising Vodafone PLC and Safaricom Limited on the setup of the M-PESA mobile phone money transfer system – an international ground-breaking innovation first rolled out in Kenya and also advising in the establishment of FSD Kenya and Trademark East Africa Limited.
• Advising African Guarantee Fund in connection with various commercial and property transactions.
• Acting for Centric Energy Ltd, Woodside Petroleum of Australia, Swiss Oil and other companies in relation to their petroleum exploration operations in Kenya.