Anjarwalla & Khanna

Anjarwalla & Khanna
Name	Anjarwalla & Khanna
Founded	2002
Headquarters	Nairobi, Kenya
Key people	Vikram Khanna; Hitesh Anadkat
Offices	Nairobi; Mombasa; Dar es Salaam; Kampala; London
Practice areas	Corporate; Mergers and Acquisitions; Energy; Banking and Finance; Dispute Resolution; Infrastructure; Real Estate; Tax; Regulatory

Anjarwalla & Khanna is a Nairobi-founded corporate law firm serving markets across East Africa and internationally. The firm advises corporations, financial institutions, development agencies and sovereign entities on transactions involving cross-border mergers and acquisitions, project finance, energy policy and infrastructure development. Its work connects clients with regulatory regimes, multilateral lenders and capital markets across the African Union region and beyond.

History

Founded in 2002 by practitioners with backgrounds in London and Nairobi practice, the firm expanded during the 2000s into transactional and advisory services tied to regional integration initiatives such as the East African Community and continental frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area. Growth was driven by engagements involving World Bank-backed projects, African Development Bank financing and bilateral investment treaties with European and Asian partners such as United Kingdom, China, India and Germany. Strategic openings aligned with infrastructure booms linked to projects like the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway and hydrocarbon developments in Uganda and Tanzania.

Practice areas

The firm's core practice areas include mergers and acquisitions and private equity, where it advises on cross-border deals involving multinational corporations from markets including United Kingdom, United States, South Africa and India. In banking and finance it structures syndicated loans with correspondent banks such as Standard Chartered and Barclays, project finance for power plants and renewable energy projects involving developers connected to the International Finance Corporation. In dispute resolution the firm represents clients in commercial arbitration before institutions like the London Court of International Arbitration and arbitral panels seated under ICSID rules. Practice areas also encompass real estate, tax, telecommunications, oil and gas exploration and regulatory compliance with authorities including national energy regulators and capital markets regulators like the Capital Markets Authority (Kenya).

Notable deals and cases

The firm has acted on notable transactions including cross-border acquisitions involving private equity houses from Carlyle Group and TPG, project financing for independent power producers linked to African Development Bank funding, and infrastructure concession agreements associated with port operations at Mombasa and regional airports tied to investors from Qatar and United Arab Emirates. It has handled high-profile arbitration matters with state-owned entities and multinational contractors under frameworks referencing the Energy Charter Treaty and bilateral investment treaties with Netherlands and Belgium. The firm has also advised telecom operators in licensing and spectrum matters involving competitors such as Safaricom, Airtel, and international vendors including Huawei and Ericsson.

Offices and global presence

Headquartered in Nairobi, the firm maintains offices across East Africa, including presence in Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, and Kampala. It has developed international relationships and representative arrangements in London to support inbound and outbound capital flows between European investors and African transactions, and collaborates with global law firms in hubs like Dubai, Singapore, and Johannesburg. These linkages facilitate coordination with multilateral lenders such as the International Monetary Fund and bilateral development agencies including USAID and DFID.

Leadership and partners

Senior leadership includes founding and managing partners with prior experience in London and regional practices who maintain relationships with corporate clients, sovereigns and development finance institutions such as the World Bank and African Development Bank. The partnership features specialists in project finance, banking, tax and arbitration who have trained at or collaborated with global firms and have been seconded to international organizations including United Nations agencies and donor-funded programmes from European Union institutions.

Recognition and rankings

The firm has been ranked by legal directories and industry publications that track law practice across jurisdictions, receiving listings in guides that evaluate work in corporate finance, energy and dispute resolution. It has featured in league tables for deal activity involving cross-border mandates between African states and multinational investors from markets such as United States, United Kingdom, China and South Africa. The firm’s partners have been recognised by awards and bar associations across regional forums, and its matters have been cited in commentary by media outlets covering African business and investment trends.

Category:Law firms of Kenya Category:Companies established in 2002