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Four Kenyan lawyers behind East Africa’s biggest corporate deals
Richard Harney, Njeri Wagacha, Rosa Nduati-Mutero and David Lekerai have been recognised by DealMakers Africa for leading major corporate transactions across East Africa.
Four Kenyan lawyers from leading legal firms have been recognised for leading mega corporate deals over the past year, earning transaction advisers billions in fees.
Richard Harney, senior partner at Bowmans Kenya, was named East African individual dealmaker of the year by South Africa-based DealMakers Africa, which tracks mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance activity across the continent.
Last year, he advised on British multinational Diageo’s sale of a 65 percent stake in Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed EABL and a 53.68 percent stake in UDV Kenya to Japanese beverage maker Asahi Holdings for $3 billion (Sh388.6 billion). Through Bowmans, he also advised on Safaricom’s Sh20 billion green bond issuance in December.
Mr Harney co-founded the law firm in 2008 as Coulson Harney LLP, alongside fellow lawyer Philip Coulson.
DealMakers Africa also recognised corporate and commercial lawyer Njeri Wagacha of CDH Kenya (previously Kieti Law) for acting as lead legal adviser to South African lender Nedbank in its sale of a 21.1 percent stake in Ecobank Transnational for $100 million (Sh12.95 billion).
She has also been mandated by Nedbank to advise on its proposed purchase of a 66 percent stake in NCBA Group for Sh110 billion.
“This is the second year in which such an award is to be made in East Africa. Candidates were nominated by their peers in the mergers and acquisitions industry and, from these nominations, a shortlist of four candidates was selected,” said DealMakers Africa.
Other lawyers on the shortlist included Rosa Nduati-Mutero, joint managing partner at ALN Kenya (Anjarwalla & Khanna), and David Lekerai, partner and head of corporate practice at DLA Piper Africa (Kenya).
Ms Nduati-Mutero advised Ethiopian telecommunications company Ethio Telecom on its $250 million (Sh32.4 billion) initial public offering (IPO) last year – the first in Ethiopia. She also advised on East Africa Growth Holding’s $32 million (Sh4.1 billion) subscription for additional shares in I&M Group.
Mr Lekerai was recognised for advising on KCB Group’s acquisition of a 75 percent stake in financial technology firm Riverbank Solutions. He also advised on KCB’s sale of National Bank of Kenya (NBK) to Nigerian lender Access Bank in a deal concluded in May 2025.
Deal boom
The rising number of large corporate transactions in Kenya and the wider East African region has delivered significant fees to advisers, including law firms, investment banks, accounting firms and registrars.
Nairobi recorded deals valued at $5.83 billion (Sh755.4 billion) last year, up from $375.7 million (Sh48.66 billion) in 2024, according to DealMakers Africa. This placed it ahead of Nigeria ($2.39 billion), Egypt ($2.29 billion) and Mauritius ($1.25 billion).
The Diageo-Asahi transaction was the largest recorded on the continent. It was followed by the Kenya government’s sale of a 15 percent stake in Safaricom to South Africa’s Vodacom Group for Sh204.3 billion. Vodacom also agreed to buy an additional five percent of the telco from its British parent Vodafone Group Plc for Sh68 billion.
Disclosures by Vodacom when announcing the transaction named Stanbic Bank and its investment banking subsidiary SBG Securities among the advisers, alongside law firms CDH Kenya (Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr) and CMS Kenya. The South African telco said the transaction would generate fees of up to Sh2.3 billion for advisers.
Kenya’s debt market also contributed, with three large corporate bond listings totalling Sh81.5 billion by Safaricom (Sh20 billion), EABL (Sh16.7 billion) and Liaison Group (Sh44.8 billion).
