Alex Devereux

Full Profile

Alex advises on a broad range of corporate and commercial matters such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), divestments, private equity and venture capital transactions, and joint venture (JV) arrangements. In addition, he advises on projects and construction matters such as PPP, project financing, EPC contracting and contentious matters. Alex has experience advising on matters across Kenya, wider East Africa, and the UK.

Alex has advised on a number of large and complex matters, working with clients operating in the energy, financial services, healthcare, infrastructure, insurance, marine, and retail and consumer sectors.

Alex is admitted as a Solicitor in England & Wales and joined the firm’s global projects and construction group in London in 2016. He went on to spend time in the Dar es Salaam office, developing a general commercial practice in East Africa, before moving to Nairobi in 2021.

Within the firm, Alex is a member of the Climate Resilience Group, advising clients on business risks arising out of the climate crisis and has co-authored a practice note in Thomson Reuters’ Practical Law, identifying legal risks facing the construction industry. Alex is also an active member of GECCO, the firm’s gender equality committee.

Experience

Corporate/M&A and commercial

• Advising Ascent Capital Africa (Ascent), the fund manager for the Ascent Rift Valley Fund (ARVF), on its exit from Guardian Health Ltd, Uganda’s largest and fastest growing pharmacy chain, to MyDawa Trading Limited, Kenya’s first online retail pharmacy and beauty platform. This deal was awarded East Africa Private Equity Deal of the Year by DealMakers Africa Awards 2023. 
• Advising private equity firm, Adenia Partners on its 100 per cent acquisition of Africa Biosystems Limited (ABL), a leading distributor of life sciences and clinical diagnostics equipment in East Africa. Clyde & Co acted as both international (English law) and local counsel (Kenya and Tanzania) to Adenia on various aspects of this multi-jurisdictional deal, including drafting and negotiating the key English law transaction documents and obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
• Advising Premier Solar Group, a leading commercial and industrial (C&I) solar company, on the sale of a 50 per cent stake in its East African operations to Starsight Energy, a West African C&I energy service provider. As part of the transaction, both parties will see the creation of Starsight Premier Energy Group, an East Africa-focused joint venture that will offer sustainable power and cooling and battery storage solutions to C&I clients across East Africa. Clyde & Co acted as sole legal adviser to Premier Solar Group on various aspects of the matter, including reviewing and negotiating the key English law transaction documents, providing strategic corporate advice on regulatory approvals and other relevant English and Kenyan law matters.
• Advising a US investment firm on numerous asset acquisitions in the food processing and logistics sectors in Kenya and Tanzania.
• Advising shareholders of the Monarch Insurance Company on an USD 8 million disposal of a majority equity stake to a Moroccan conglomerate and pan African underwriter, Holmarcom.

Projects and construction

• Advising on negotiations between a Korean EPC contractor and the Tanzania Ports Authority for the development of new port infrastructure in Tanzania.
• Advising the Federal Government of Somalia (through the Africa Legal Support Facility) on its concession agreement with Turkish contractor Albayrak Group for the rehabilitation and operation of Mogadishu Port.
• Advising a government road authority on arbitration claims relating to the construction of a road in East Africa.
• Advising investors on the negotiation of EPCM contract documents for the delivery of an innovative waste-to-energy pyrolysis plant in the UK.
• Advising a leading French contractor on numerous tender submissions and contract negotiations for the development and management of road infrastructure in the UK.

Publications

• UK Practical Law – Thomson Reuters: Climate Change and the Construction Industry