Nicholas Kuria is Counsel in the British Virgin Islands Corporate practice.

His practice includes many aspects of corporate law, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, shareholders’ agreements and corporate governance.

Nicholas advises a range of clients with a particular focus on the technology, media and telecommunications, financial services and insurance sectors. He has spent time on secondment with the mergers and acquisitions team of British Telecommunications plc in London, UK.

He acts for public and private companies, insurers, brokers and financial institutions and has worked with infrastructure funds in relation to the funding of digital telecommunications companies in the UK. Nicholas also acts on cross-border transactions, both in mergers and acquisitions as well as joint ventures, in a variety of industry sectors.

Jurisdiction

Experience

  • Advised on the acquisition by HP Inc. of Samsung’s global printer business for US$1 billion.
  • Advised Commonwealth Bank of Australia in connection with a five-year AU$500 million syndicated credit facility, including an AU$100 million accordion option, to gold mining company Gold Fields. The new financing is the first sustainability-linked loan transaction for a gold mining company in Australia.
  • Advised Weatherford International, one of the world’s largest multinational oilfield service companies, in connection with the amendment and reinstatement of its LC Credit Agreement dated 17 October 2022, including an increase in the aggregate commitments under the credit agreement.
  • Advised Iluka Resources on the demerger of Sierra Rutile, the world’s largest rutile producer with mineral sands mining operations in Sierra Leone, creating two independent ASX-listed companies and separating Iluka’s Australian critical minerals business from its business in Sierra Leone.
  • Advised Turaco Gold Limited, an ASX-listed gold exploration company, on its acquisition of a 51% interest in Taurus Gold Afema Holdings Ltd, the owner of Afema Gold SA which holds the Afema granted mining permit in southeast Côte d’Ivoire.
  • Advised on the joint venture between Zuffa LLC and a consortium of investors including Mubadala in relation to the expansion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Eastern Europe.
  • Advised ARX Resources Ltd on the sale of all the issued and outstanding shares of ARX to Pasofino Gold Limited, a Toronto based mining company. ARX is party to an earn-in agreement with Hummingbird Resources PLC in respect of the Dugbe Gold Project in Liberia.
  • Advised Apollo Global Management, LLC on its acquisition of Phoenix Services, LLC.
  • Advised Aviva Investors on its equity investment in TrueSpeed Communications Limited.
  • Advised SAB Finance on its acquisition of FCM Bank Limited.

Qualifications

Professional Background

  • Senior Associate, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, London
  • Associate, Slaughter and May, London
  • Secondee, British Telecommunications plc

Education

  • Nottingham Law School, Legal Practice Course, 2005
  • Nottingham Law School, Graduate Diploma in Law, 2004
  • University of Reading, BSc, International Securities, Investment and Banking, 2003

Bar Admissions

  • England & Wales, Solicitor, 2007

Awards & Accolades

  • Recognised in the 2024 (and 2023) edition of Legal 500 Caribbean (banking, finance and capital markets; corporate and commercial; investment funds)

Publications

Shareholders’ Rights & Shareholder Activism 2022

Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence Insurance Guide 2021 (First published on Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence)

Chambers Shareholders Rights’ & Shareholder Activism 2021 Global Practice Guide, 2021

Shareholders’ Rights & Shareholder Activism, Chambers Global Practice Guide, 2020

Heads of terms and entire agreement clauses, ICSA Governance and Compliance journal, July 2014.