Competition and Antitrust

• Representing various companies in the insurance, footwear, cement, alcohol and beverages industries in relation to anti-trust proceedings before the Competition Authority of Kenya.
• Assisting clients in respect of investigations relating to restrictive trade practices.
• Advising clients in relation to dawn raids conducted by the Competition Authority of Kenya.
• Review of clients’ contracts and general compliance with competition legislation in Kenya.
• Filing proceedings against decisions made by the Competition Authority of Kenya.
• Advising on restrictive trade practices in the context of both horizontal and vertical agreements.

We advise various clients on competition merger filings including cross border filings. Some of the sectors we have advised on include telecoms, insurance, newspaper, construction, investment banking, education and cosmetics. Some of the matters the team have handled include:

• We successfully filed for merger clearance for American Tower Corporation on its acquisition of approximately 720 communication towers from Telkom Kenya.
• We have advised NSE listed KenolKobil Plc on the acquisition of 33 stations from Delta Petroleum (Uganda and Rwanda) and are assisting with regional filings.
• As part of our legal support to private equity fund Catalyst in their multi-million dollar investment into the Pharma sector in Tanzania and DRC we also successfully obtained competition approval from the Tanzanian Fair Competition Commission.
• We successfully obtained merger exclusion for Mace (UK) regional buyout of YMR’s operations in Kenya and Uganda and their joint venture with YMR.
• As part of our M&A advisory work advising the shareholders on their exit from Malindi Solar and subsequent joint venture with Globeleq we also obtained merger clearance from the Competition Authority of Kenya.
• As part of the wider transaction support we filed for merger clearance for Turner & Townsend’s acquisition of Kenyan project management firm Mentor Management Limited from growth markets investor, Actis.
• As part of the wider transaction we successfully filed for merger clearance for Prudential plc on its acquisition of Shield Assurance Limited becoming the only 100% foreign owned insurer in Kenya.
• As part of the wider transaction we obtained CAK clearance for Nairobi Women’s Hospital on a multi-million USD investment by Swedfund and Abraj Capital.
• As local counsel to Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) in connection with the Euro 2.3 billion global acquisition of the CFAO group of companies from Pinault Printemps Redoute Group (2012) we were engaged in the local anti-trust filings.
• We sought regulatory approval for the joint venture between leading JSE listed brand company Woolworths and Deacons Kenya Limited.
• We advised and filed for regulatory clearance for L’Oreal on its multimillion USD acquisition of one Kenya’s largest beauty products manufacturer.

*Due to the sensitive nature of some anti-trust / competition matters we cannot disclose details of specific work undertaken. The above list is a reflection of the types of legal services we have provided our clients. We have however provided examples of merger control advice and filings.