USD100,000,000
Kenya Power & Lighting Company
Advising on the transfer of assets and liabilities by way of novation to the newly established Kenya Electricity Transmission Company.
Corporate law · Nairobi, Kenya
We close the transactions others call complicated.
Gatama & Associates LLP advises banks, energy developers, governments and international investors on the deals that cross borders, sectors and regulators, from Nairobi to Juba and Mogadishu.
Selected transactions
USD30,000,000
Co-operative Bank of Kenya
Negotiating and structuring a joint venture with the Government of South Sudan to establish Co-operative Bank of South Sudan.
USD10,000,000
China Merchants Holding
Tendering and concession structuring for the Second Container Terminal, Port of Mombasa, on a PPP basis.
KES3,000,000,000
Utawala Four Forty Development
Lead counsel on an affordable housing development, from land assembly through to purchaser documentation.
EUR2,000,000
Torrent East Africa
Perfection of a facility from COFIDES, the Spanish development finance institution.
Co-operative Bank of Kenya
Kenya Power & Lighting
African Legal Support Facility
National Land Commission
Development Bank of Kenya
ENGIE Energy Access
Faulu Bank
HF Group
Ofgen Limited
County Government of Laikipia
Ariya Capital Group
Intex Construction
Our edge
Three habits that decide
how a deal ends.
We founded the firm on the belief that legal advice is only useful when it moves a transaction forward. These are the working principles our clients feel.
Commercial awareness
We identify commercial risk and opportunity before it reaches you, and weigh the options against what you are actually trying to achieve, whether that is profit, social impact or speed to close. Growth should not be interrupted by a regulatory pitfall nobody flagged.
Accountability, responsiveness, transparency
We answer. We tell you where the matter stands before you ask, we own the parts that are ours, and we are direct about cost and timing. Our clients call this ART; we treat it as the minimum.
Stakeholder relations
Regulators, registries, lenders and county authorities decide how fast a transaction moves. We maintain the relationships in those institutions so that counsel arrives when it is still useful, not after the window has closed.
Scale
Built for the transactions that do not fit a template.
Port concessions, sovereign joint ventures, asset novations between state utilities, affordable housing at three billion shillings. These are matters where the structure has to be invented before it can be documented.
0Disclosed value advised
0Published transactions
0Named clients
The firm
A medium-sized firm,
built for large matters.
Partner-led teams, no layers between you and the person doing the work, and a bench deep enough to run a cross-border closing.
Gatama & Associates LLP is a medium-sized corporate law firm in Nairobi, Kenya. Our team is composed of legal professionals with extensive experience advising corporate and individual clients, locally and internationally.
Our experience spans a combined thirty years and a portfolio of qualifications from world-class institutions. Partners, associates and support staff are united by one aim: to establish this firm as the leading legal service provider in the region.
We founded the firm because we believe in the provision of exemplary legal services to the satisfaction of our clients.
We strive to understand each client's unique needs and goals, then deliver practical solutions tailored to their circumstances. In practice that means commercial awareness applied early, proactive collaboration through the life of a transaction, and relationships in the institutions that affect how quickly your matter completes.
Excellence
The standard we hold work to before it leaves the firm, whether it is a term sheet or a completion bundle.
Integrity
Advice that reflects the law and the risk as they are, including when that is not what a client hoped to hear.
Honesty
Clear positions on cost, timing and prospects from the first meeting, and no surprises after it.
0Years combined experience
0Disclosed value advised
0Practice areas
0Jurisdictions served
Expertise
Nine practice areas,
one transaction team.
Most matters we handle touch three or four of these at once. The team is arranged so that they do not become three or four separate conversations.
01
Energy & Extractives
Solar PV and captive generation, DBOT and IPP structures, off-grid projects, licensing and offtake documentation across Kenya and South Sudan.
View practice
02
Banking & Finance
Facility documentation, security creation and perfection, development finance drawdown, and lender-side diligence for local and offshore institutions.
View practice
03
Corporate & Commercial
Joint ventures, equity investments, mergers and acquisitions, group restructuring and amalgamation, shareholder arrangements and governance.
View practice
04
Projects, Infrastructure & PPPs
Concession tendering and structuring, transmission and port infrastructure, public-private partnership frameworks and land assembly.
View practice
05
Real Estate & Conveyancing
Development structuring, affordable housing schemes, title investigation and transfer, leases and purchaser documentation at scale.
View practice
06
Cross-border Transactions
Market entry, incorporation and licensing in South Sudan, Somalia and Somaliland, with dedicated practice group leads in each jurisdiction.
View practice
07
Dispute Resolution
Commercial litigation, arbitration, land and succession disputes, employment claims and debt recovery before the Kenyan courts and tribunals.
View practice
08
Employment & Labour
Restructuring and redundancy, contracts and policy, executive arrangements, and disputes before the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
View practice
09
Competition Law
Merger notification and clearance before the Competition Authority of Kenya and COMESA, restrictive practice advice and compliance programmes.
View practiceTrack record
The wall.
Deals corporate lawyers frame and hang. Filter by sector or jurisdiction. These are matters the firm has acted on, with values as disclosed.
Sector
Jurisdiction
EnergyKenya
USD100,000,000
Kenya Power & Lighting Company
Transfer of assets and liabilities by novation to the newly established Kenya Electricity Transmission Company.
NovationRegulated utility
BankingSouth Sudan
USD30,000,000
Co-operative Bank of Kenya
Negotiation and structuring of a joint venture with the Government of South Sudan to establish Co-operative Bank of South Sudan.
Joint ventureSovereign counterparty
BankingCross-border
USD25,000,000
Nigerian oilfield services group
Advisory support on the structuring of a debt financing facility for a provider of piping, procurement, surface protection and inspection services to the Nigerian upstream sector.
Debt structuringUpstream oil & gas
InfrastructureKenya
USD10,000,000
China Merchants Holding
Tendering and structuring of the concession for operation of the Second Container Terminal, Port of Mombasa, on a PPP basis.
PPP concessionPorts
CorporateSouth Sudan
USD10,000,000
Britam & CIC Insurance, South Sudan
Incorporation, establishment and licensing of Britam Insurance Company South Sudan Limited and CIC Insurance South Sudan.
Market entryInsurance licensing
EnergyKenya
USD10,000,000
Ofgen Limited
Lead counsel on the structuring of grid-tie captive solar generation projects with a combined capacity of over 20 MW.
Captive power20 MW+
Real estateKenya
KES3,000,000,000
Utawala Four Forty Development
Legal counsel on an affordable housing project, from structuring through to purchaser documentation.
Affordable housingDevelopment
Real estateKenya
KES2,000,000,000
Eboss Investments
Legal counsel on all aspects of the residential development known as 143 Brookview.
DevelopmentResidential
EnergyCross-border
USD2,500,000
Kenyan solar C&I developer
Consultancy and advisory on the acquisition of a 35% equity stake by a French multinational corporation.
Equity acquisitionInbound investment
No matters match that combination. Try another filter.
The full transaction list
Tell us what you are trying to close.
An initial conversation costs you nothing and usually tells us both whether we are the right firm for the matter. If we are not, we will say so and point you somewhere better.
People
The person you meet
is the person who acts.
Partners, associates and consultants qualified at Cape Town, Aberdeen, Debrecen, Nairobi and Nelson Mandela, practising together in Westlands.
SG
Managing Partner
HO
Advocate
SM
Associate
LN
Associate
How an engagement runs
Four stages,
in this order.
A transaction is a sequence, and knowing which stage you are in tells you what to expect next and what it should cost.
Scoping and conflict check
We hear the commercial objective, run our conflict search, and come back with a scope, a team and a fee basis in writing before any substantive work begins.
Structuring and due diligence
We test the structure against tax, regulatory and competition constraints, run legal due diligence, and report the issues that would change your price or your appetite.
Negotiation and documentation
We draft and negotiate the transaction documents, manage the conditions precedent list, and coordinate lenders, regulators, registries and counterparty counsel.
Completion and post-closing
We close, perfect the security, complete the filings and registrations, and hand over a bible plus the post-completion obligations calendar you will actually need.
Common questions
Before you call.
We are a corporate firm. The bulk of our work is transactional: banking and finance, corporate and commercial, energy, infrastructure and PPPs, real estate, and cross-border transactions. We also run a dispute resolution practice covering commercial litigation, land, succession, employment and debt recovery, and we act for both corporate and individual clients.
Yes. We maintain a South Sudan practice group led by an advocate admitted in both Kenya and South Sudan, and we act on matters in the Federal Republic of Somalia and Somaliland through a consultant qualified for that work. We have advised on incorporations, banking and insurance licensing, joint ventures with government and energy projects in these markets.
It depends on the matter. Conveyancing and certain court work are governed by the Advocates Remuneration Order. For transactional and advisory work we agree the basis in writing before starting. That is usually a fixed fee for a defined scope, or an hourly rate with an estimate and an agreed point at which we come back to you. We will tell you which applies at the scoping stage, along with disbursements.
Once we have run a conflict check and agreed scope and fees, usually immediately. The conflict check is not a formality. It protects both of us, and on a transaction with several parties it is the first thing we do.
A named advocate, supported by the partner responsible for the engagement. We are a medium-sized firm by design: you will know who is doing the work, and you will be able to reach them. Where a matter needs a specialist in arbitration, governance audit, construction or a second jurisdiction, we bring in the consultant who covers it rather than improvising.
Yes. Much of our cross-border work is run remotely, and we are used to clients in different time zones. Our office is in Westlands, Nairobi (East Africa Time, UTC+3), and the current local time is shown at the top of this page.
Get in touch
Westlands Office Park,
Baobab House.
Ground Floor, Wing A. Two minutes from the Waiyaki Way interchange, with parking on site.
Office
Baobab House, Wing A
Westlands Office Park, Ground Floor
P.O. Box 608-00623, Nairobi, Kenya