KO Associates

The Firm: KO Associates LLP is a leading corporate & commercial Law Firm in East Africa that offers full service. The firm is distinctively international in its outlook and approach and advises the world’s leading companies and financial institutions on their most complex matters in Africa and it is well known and regarded for its subject-matter expertise in technology, energy and infrastructure work in Africa. The firm has a strong team of Sixteen (16) qualified Advocates with strong expertise which has resulted in consistent ranking by legal directories including the Africa Legal Awards (ALA), Legal 500, Chambers Global and IFLR1000. We have been ranked among the leading Specialist Firms in Africa in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 by Africa Legal Awards. The firm operates in five markets in East Africa being Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia through the Citadel Law Africa (CLA) network.

The firm has expertise in Banking & finance, corporate and commercial, Technology, Projects, Energy & Infrastructure, Trade & investment, Real Estate & Construction, Dispute resolution, Tax & wealth management, Compliance & Governance and Intellectual Property. Our clients range from financial institutions, investment firms, public institutions, multinationals, and listed firms that operate in Kenya and Africa as a whole. Our vision is to be a World Class Law Firm with roots in the African Continent offering high quality legal services across the globe. To achieve this, we focus on our mission of offering timely, practical. and innovative legal solutions to clients in our areas of expertise

AREAS OF PRACTICE

COMMERCIAL & CORPORATE M&A PRACTICE
Our Commercial and Corporate M&A Practice advises firms across the broad spectrum of corporate work including contracts, compliance, financing, takeovers, M&A, joint ventures, Strategic Partnerships, disposals and corporate restructurings, as well as general commercial, labour, antitrust and corporate compliance issues.  We support a number of entities and firms both large and small in their operations. The range of business we support include listed firms, technology startups, Multinational Corporations, conglomerates, manufacturing firms, retail and distribution companies, financial institutions, foundations, infrastructure developers, international development institutions among others

We advise on all aspects of enterprise life including commercial contracts, cross border transactions, raising capital and operating sustainably. This includes work with sellers, lenders and financial advisers on both public and private mergers and acquisitions, and private equity buyers on private equity financed deals. In our work we are committed to providing excellent service and to finding innovative solutions to the most complex, multi-jurisdictional and at times first of its kind transaction structures for our clients.

INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT & PPPs PRACTICE
KO Associates LLP is at the forefront of the infrastructure financing market for large scale infrastructure developments in Africa. Our sector experience spans through Industrial Parks/ Special Economic Zones, transport infrastructure including roads, rail and ports and PPPs, energy and telecommunication sectors.
We are innovative, responsive and quite familiar with the region’s terrain having worked with Governments, government agencies, regulators, Commercial Banks, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), large commercial banks and Project developers and contractors. We are particularly strong in: Transport and Logistics (roads, ports, & railways) , Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones Development , Social Infrastructure – Housing, Hospitals, Schools and Sporting Facilities , Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and PFI schemes and Telecommunication Infrastructure.
We have worked with large clients including financing of 1050MW Amu Power Plant, Konza Technopolis City Project and Lamu Port under LAPSSET Corridor Development. 

TECHNOLOGY, MEDIA & TELECOMUNICATIONS (TMT) PRACTICE
KO Associates LLP advises global technology firms, major media houses, telecommunications companies and financial institutions who rely on our team to provide specialist legal services.
We are trusted by our clients because we bring the right mix of industry practice, government networks and experience to their most challenging and complex legal, regulatory and compliance issues. We invest time to understand our clients, their strategic objectives before offering relevant and practical advice. We have distinguished ourselves as one of the leading Technology and Intellectual Property law firms in Kenya. We offer our clients high quality, innovative and solution -oriented advice which aligns with their goals.
Our diverse experience includes advising the largest telecommunication services and mobile provider in Kenya on data protection and compliance with the European Union General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act, 2019. Advising leading multinational technology companies specializing in Internet-related services and products including online advertising technologies, search, cloud computing, software, and hardware, in all legal issues including, regulatory and compliance, representation in contentious matters, transaction advisory, intellectual property, regulatory review and policy analysis and competition law and advised the East African Community / Investment Climate Facility for Africa on the EAC Study on Intellectual Property Laws and Anti-Counterfeiting Measures.

BANKING & FINANCE PRACTICE
Our Banking & Finance Practice advises leading Banks and Financial institutions in East Africa including Equity Group, ABSA PLC, Jubilee Holdings, AfDB, World Bank among others . we advise on the structuring, documentation and securitization processes for a variety of credit facilities, namely: corporate finance, Asset Finance, Mortgages, Lines of Credit and Term Loans. our key services include: Legal due diligence, deal structuring, Securities Registration, Regulation, Governance and Compliance, Debt Recovery, Review of Financial contracts, Restructuring, Administration and Insolvency, Insurance, Fintech.

COMPETITION & REGULATION PRACTICE
Our Competition & Regulation Practice supports regulated entities and sector players in compliance with competition law and regulation under COMESA and domestic jurisdictions in East Africa. The range of support relates to merger notification, control and exemption, service and consumer complaints, abuse of buyer power, restrictive trade practices, and consumer protection. Our team leverages its cooperative approach with various market and sector regulators to steer transactions be it in enforcement or compliance. We carry out pre-emptive analysis and institutional training to align commercial decisions, instruments and policy with competition laws and regulation to forestall any potential points of exposure.  

Our broad understanding of competition & regulatory compliance requirements across different sectors, our ability to keep abreast with changes in laws and regulations, as well as our good relations and strategic partnerships with the market and sector regulators allows our team to be quick to solutions as well as mitigate any points of exposure well before occurrence. Our team equally leverages on continued industry engagement and research to map trends and changes within the sector to enable us to offer well thought out insights.  We utilize the regulators self-reporting ecosystem to enable control of transactions. Our regional presence also allows to leverage our strength and synergies across border and regional competition regulators. 

COMPLIANCE AUDIT, GOVERNANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT PRACTICE
Our team of Corporate Governance, Compliance and Legal Audit experts supports private companies, publicly listed companies, public agencies, SACCOs, international organizations and multi-national corporations to enable them; strengthen their governance structures; comply with national and international regulatory frameworks; prepare reporting frameworks to facilitate and ease compliance; assess compliance; unearth legal loopholes likely to cripple business operations; and undertake legal due diligence. The highly skilled, client focused and innovative team provides specialist services with a view to ensuring that our clients are not at cross-purpose with the law or at the risk of being sanctioned.

We have been instrumental in helping various clients in the public as well as the private sector and those operating within Kenya and multinational companies evaluate adherence to external regulatory framework and internal policies, processes, and practices. This has enabled clients identify gaps and remedy them with a view to avoid fines and/or business interruptions. In addition to identifying gaps, the Firm has been instrumental in developing frameworks for remedial action and worked along our clients to support implementation of remedial action

DISPUTE RESOLUTION & ADR PRACTICE
(Arbitration. Litigation. ADR )
With an established and impressive reputation in this field, our commercial dispute resolution and litigation lawyers are highly skilled in managing and resolving all types of corporate and commercial disputes. Our commercial lawyers are your first port of call when seeking advice and support on a broad range of operational, commercial and contractual matters that are an inevitable part of your business life.
We follow a case management approach with a strategy dependent upon the probability of success, the ramifications of the outcome on your image, the likelihood of future litigation, and the cost. This commitment combined with our in-depth knowledge and experience in each of our practice areas allows us to deliver the highest level of service.
Our main priority is to resolve disputes quickly and effectively with as little disruption to business as possible. We focus on the issues that matter to clients and how the dispute resolution process can be managed to deliver optimum results for the client.

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES PRACTICE
KO Associates LLPs’ Energy Practice guides clients through all aspects of an energy project’s development, financing and operation. The Energy team brings to the table specialist skills in Project Finance, Infrastructure development, Environmental, Tax, Commercial and Corporate, Regulation and Property legal compliance. The team has experience in negotiating joint ventures, concessions, power purchase agreements or other development agreements, as well as providing insightful advice on environmental, regulatory, public procurement and public private partnerships compliance issues.

We are at the forefront of the renewable energy market for clean energy sources including wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, biogas and biomass. We advise public institutions, debt funders (including banks, development finance institutions, private equity funds, development funds, multilaterals) sellers and acquirers (on M&A transactions), sponsors, suppliers and equipment manufacturers.
We offer a full range of legal advisory services including legal due diligence and feasibility studies, joint ventures structuring, project finance documentation and negotiation, legal and regulatory compliance, institutional and governance design. Our experience in projects development ranges from Project Conceptualization, Feasibility studies, Project Institutional and Governance Arrangements, Drafting and Negotiating Project Agreements, Project and Corporate Finance, Project Approvals and Licensing, and Contract Management.

CROSS-BORDER TRADE & INVESTMENT PRACTICE
Our Cross-Border trade and investment Practice, focuses on the full range of legal advisory services in the trade industry. We have significant experience in handling cross –border transactions that involve governmental, intergovernmental and private parties.

Our client service strategy is to provide well thought out solutions that attend to the challenges in the trade sector. We provide guidance through local, regional and international trade laws and the interplay with economic and trade sanctions regimes. Our range of services include Trade and Investment Policy advisory , and Legal Frameworks Development ,Policy advocacy, Public-Private Sector Dialogue ,Establishment of Special Economic Zones and Free Trade Zones ,International Trade and Investment Disputes ,Trade Negotiations ,Policy and Regulatory reform ,Business Climate Advisory, Partnership Arrangements ,Institutional and Governance Arrangements, advisory and Design, Investment Due Diligence and Risk Assessment , Sector legal expertise support, Sector Research and advisory.

We have worked with a number of Regional Institutions, Development Agencies, Government Ministries, State Departments, private sector associations, public corporations and regulatory authorities in the Region to improve policy and legal environment for the EAC and COMESA regions in various sectors including trade, international development, Agriculture, water and Sanitation, financial services, transport, Energy, governance and investments.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP) PRACTICE
Our Intellectual Property Practice provide the full suite of IP legal services including registration, licensing, commercialization, protection and enforcement of trademarks and brand designs, copyright, database rights, patents and utility models. We focus on providing strategic and practical legal advice to protect our clients’ innovations and IP assets

Because we are specialist leaders in innovative areas such as Digital Health, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech and Digital media we are able to offer real insights to clients on get the best value for their IP Assets and how to protect and grow that value in the new digital economy environment. Our suite of legal support range from high-profile matters like M&A, IP Licensing, Joint ventures to day-to-day challenges including IP disputes, registration and renewals, regulatory issues, data protection and portfolio management.

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION PRACTICE
Our Real Estate and Construction practice has lawyers with the expertise to handle the entire property life cycle from the initial acquisition, development, leasing, Joint Ventures and financing all through to the final exit. We appreciate that managing a Real Estate portfolio can be challenging and sometimes complex. In that regard, we help Real Estate owners and Investors simplify the process of addressing occupancy requirement, handling lease disputes, construction, development including structuring, documenting, negotiating, Joint Ventures and preparing permits and approvals that are compliant with local land use, Public Law and environmental regulations

TAX & WEALTH MANAGEMENT PRACTICE
KO Associates Tax Practice is focused on providing timely, effective and innovative solutions on international, cross-border and domestic tax issues.
We advise on a wide range of issues in tax that cut across different sectors such as Manufacturing, Investment and Private Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions, Employment and Dispute Resolution. Our expertise in tax includes tax refunds, tax consulting, VAT, customs and excise, manufacturing tax, withholding tax, corporate tax, SEZs, income tax, private equity and investment fund tax issues, among others.
Some of our notable tax advisory services provided in the past; Successfully challenging the VAT refund formula: R=Z/T×e in Legal Notice No. 54 of 2017, Advisory services on East African Rules of origin, Immigration advisory services provided to Edge source Limited, Advisory of services to Lamu SEZ and Analysis of EAC Rules of origin.