Watch the video below of CDH CEO Brent Williams, and Sammy Ndolo Managing Partner from Kieti, discussing the forging of a new legal future.
Through this partnership, and under the CDH banner, both firms will not only expand their service offerings in the region but also benefit from the alchemy of Kieti’s embedded regional expertise and knowledge, CDH’s depth in its full legal service offering and capability and, both firms’ reputation for their commercial legal business nous in their respective domestic jurisdictions.
Brent Williams, CDH CEO, is enthusiastic about the new opportunities that this partnership presents. “Our partners at Kieti are highly skilled, young, dynamic and are looking to grow their presence and capability into a regional powerhouse,” he says. “On the other hand, at CDH we are looking for more continental reach and a base of operations in the region. Both of us stand much to gain from this shared future ahead of us.”
Sammy Ndolo, Managing Partner at Kieti says this union is client-driven as Kieti is regularly retained by both local and foreign investors. “In a market that offers much opportunity and where the needs of our clients are changing, so too must our ability to service these needs. Together with CDH, we can offer not only greater depth of service and legal expertise to our local clients, but also attract global clients with interests in the continent.”
Brent says that although this may be a merger on paper, it has all the hallmarks of the beginnings of an entirely new law firm. “This new firm will remain both Kenyan and South African at its respective operational levels and yet quintessentially and proudly African in practice and culture. We are excited to take full advantage of our South African legal expertise and close to 170 years of legal precedent and pair it with East African legal expertise and business culture to the benefit of both our clients and businesses. We also anticipate that this merger provides an alternative opportunity for top legal talent in both the Eastern and Southern African market.”
With Kieti’s focus on corporate law, mergers and acquisitions as well as banking and finance, Sammy says this pairs perfectly with CDH’s own wealth of experience and renowned expertise in these fields. For CDH, the extension of its services into East Africa with domestic expertise will allow CDH to offer its South African clients a seamless and quality service experience similar to that which they have become familiar with from CDH in South Africa.
Brent concludes that this marks a momentous occasion in the history of both firms. “We are embarking on a great adventure at a profoundly difficult time in global history from a health, climate and economic perspective and look forward to finding opportunities that these challenges present us with. This partnership is a product of that philosophy. In doing so we are looking to make a contribution to the elevation of African corporate legal services by Africans for Africans and, its global trading partners as Africa takes its rightful place in the world of commerce.”
