N. Dowuona & Company

The firm: N. Dowuona & Company was established in 2011 by NanaAma Botchway-Dowuona. Its areas of focus include corporate and commercial, property and construction, energy and infrastructure, banking and finance. The firm’s team of creative professionals has varied experience in law and business. Since inception, the firm has advised on landmark and novel transactions in areas ranging from property development to large divestments and infrastructure projects.

Areas of practice: The firm’s corporate and commercial practice encompasses large, complex transactions as well as routine corporate advice. It advises clients on investment and divestment transactions, joint ventures, corporate governance matters and intellectual property licensing issues. The firm advises on a range of employment matters, including; drafting and negotiating senior executive employment contracts, immigration matters, compensation structures and creating sophisticated executive compensation structures such as employee profit sharing and carried interest allocation schemes. Clients range from established multinational corporations to start-up companies operating in a variety of industries, from private equity to oil field services to construction.

The firm’s property practice covers a broad range of real estate matters. It has represented leading local and international real estate developers in all phases of real estate investment, finance, development and operations. The firm has significant experience in hospitality, commercial and residential development.

The firm’s transactional experience in the area of construction law encompasses major construction projects such as containerized ports, road works, infrastructure related civil works, office buildings, hotels, commercial and residential complexes and other mixed-use projects. The firm also assists clients with planning, permitting and tax related matters. Clients include public-private sector developers, contractors, landlords, tenants, and service providers.

The firm’s energy and infrastructure practice spans the full range of legal issues, providing regulatory advisory services to clients who are seeking to comply with the changing regulation of the energy industry. It also has experience in assisting private equity firms seeking to invest in the energy industry. Clients are advised in both the midstream and the downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry as well as clients in the renewable energy sector. It advises mobile telecom and telecom service providers on regulatory issues. Clients include local and international companies in the oil and gas, energy and telecoms infrastructure and transportation sectors.

The firm’s banking and finance practice offers clients legal assistance with various kinds of financing transactions ranging from stock market transactions, to complex loan syndications, to other smaller private offerings. It assists clients, be they financial institutions, borrowers, lessees, or other players in the capital markets, to identify and manage the legal and regulatory risks involved in these transactions. The firm works closely with clients to determine the most appropriate financing structure for projects within the context of local legal framework. In addition to lending and borrowing representations, clients are advised on mergers, acquisitions, project financings and cross-border investments. Clients include funds, principal investing companies and corporate borrowers.

The firm’s dispute resolution practice assists its corporate and commercial clients through mediation, arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution processes. The firm also represents clients in disputes before regulatory authorities, as well as conventional litigation. It works with clients to develop a strategy that is efficient, commercial and cost-effective, and actively promotes alternative dispute resolution processes, in an effort to avoid the time-consuming and costly exercise of litigation.