Philip Coulson is an experienced lawyer having qualified in the UK (1991) and worked as an English Solicitor. He holds a current solicitor’s practising certificate from the Law Society of England & Wales. From 1994 to 2008 he worked with Kaplan & Stratton, one of Kenya’s leading law practices. In September 2008 Philip left Kaplan & Stratton to establish a new law firm, Coulson Harney, in association with Bowman Gilfillan. Bowman Gilfillan is one of South Africa’s major corporate and commercial law firms with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Mr. Coulson’s experience covers company and commercial law, capital markets, property development, finance, acquisitions, take-overs, joint ventures, investments, corporate re-organisations, general commercial contracts and advice on land law matters tourism and conservation.
He has received several citations as one of the leading lawyers in corporate and commercial law in Kenya from several international legal directories.
Assignment
- Advised Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited on several capital raising initiatives leading to the modernisation and expansion of their Mombasa refinery expected to be valued at USD $ 1.3 billion;
- Advised WPP group on the reorganisation of Ogilvy East Africa Limited and the investment into Ogilvy by NSE-listed Scangroup Limited;
- Advised WPP Group/TNS International on the acquisition of RMS Kenya, part of an Africa-wide transaction;
- Advised Resolution Health Limited on the capital injection by African Development Corporation and subscription for 25% of the equity of Resolution Health Limited;
- Advised CfC Stanbic Bank and Standard Bank (Mauritius) on the US$ 25.6 million financing for the acquisition of NAS Airport Services Limited by SIA Kenya Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Servair Group of France;
- Advised Centum Investment Company Limited on its exit from NAS Holdings Limited and its acquisition of an equity interest in SIA Kenya Holdings Limited;
- Advised Centum Investment Company Limited on various joint ventures in Kenya, Uganda and Southern Sudan;
- Advised Kingdom Hotels on the disposal of its shareholding in The Ark Limited (comprising the Aberdare Country Club and the world famous Ark Forest Lodge);
- Advised PineBridge Investments East Africa Limited on the sale of its information tracking software system to Craft Silicon;
- Advised Safaricom Limited on its recording artiste joint venture with Homeboyz Entertainment Limited – Project Sauti;
- Advised TKM Maestro Limited in relation to a loan by TBL Mirror Fund BV convertible into shares in an offshore entity;
- Advised Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited and Government of Kenya on the said sale of 50% of shares to Essar Energy Limited of India for the re-development of East Africa's only oil refinery in Mombasa;
- Advised Hass Consult on the development of nine exclusive villas and forty residential apartments in Nairobi. Advice was also given on the acquisition of land, joint venture structuring and sale of the residential units;
- Advising Sophia Karen Limited on the development and leasing of an international school in Nairobi to GEMS Education. Advice was given on the acquisition of land, negotiation of the purchase agreement, development agreement and lease to GEMS Education, the various construction contracts and project financing in relation to the land acquisition and construction of the school;
- Advising The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy in the acquisition of approx. 28,500 acres of land in Laikipia, Northern Kenya by a third party for the purposes of the permanent preservation and protection of land and wildlife. The transaction involved due diligence, complex corporate and property structuring, developing a tax efficient conservation model compliant with Kenyan law and included drafting and negotiating lease-back agreements, easements, granting of various options, rights and conservation management agreements;
- Project structuring and transaction documentation for the Mandarini development and sale of 130 homes on 150 acres of land in Kilifi. The development received international acclaim and won the international development award for the best residential development in Africa;
- Acted as Kenya counsel to ED & F Mann Holdings Limited on its exit from the Dormans Group, a well established coffee business in East Africa;
- Acted for the vendors on the sale of a majority stake in the Civicon group of companies;
- Advised UAP Holdings Limited on construction and engineering contracts relating to the development of the UAP Tower in Nairobi;
- Advised on the purchase of a key site for commercial development;
- Ongoing advice on sale of a civil engineering company operating in several jurisdictions - Transaction adviser to disposer;
- Advice in relation to the disposal of a minority interest in a company with hunting concessions in Tanzania, involving a pre-closing cross border re-structuring - Transaction adviser to the disposer;
- Advise on acquiring 51% of Savings & Commercial Bank Limited, Tanzania - Transaction adviser to Kenyan acquirer;
- Acquisition of Alitaki Safaris Limited, the operator of Kitich Camp situated in the Matthews Range - Transaction adviser for the acquirer;
- Acquisition of Giraffe Manor Limited by Tamimi Limited - Transaction adviser for the acquirer;
- Advice given to lenders on various receiverships in Kenya and Zambia - Adviser to the appointing lenders;
- Ongoing advice given to several conservancies on all aspects of land, wildlife and environmental law (The Northern Rangelands Trust, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Soysambu Conservancy, Borana Conservancy, The Laikipia Nature Conservancy, Sera Conservancy and Amu and Ol Donyo Wuas conservation areas) - Adviser to the operators of the various conservancies;
- Ongoing advice, including due diligence on 250 land titles of a former group ranch situated in the Maasai Mara, with a view to a conservancy being established and the land leased to a conservancy by each of the land owners - Adviser to the prospective operator of the conservancy;
- Retained as legal counsel to Kingdom Hotels Investments in respect of their Kenyan investments including in Kingdom Kenya 01 Limited, The Ark Limited, Mara Safari Club and Mount Kenya Safari Club - External counsel retained generally.
Areas of Practice
Corporate
Qualifications
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LLB (Essex University, England)
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Solicitors’ Final Examinations (Law Society of England)
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Admission as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya1996 (Kenya School of Law)
Contact Information
