Experienced finance lawyer, Mark Kyle, has joined pan-African law firm, Bowmans, as a partner. Kyle joins the firm to assist it with its capital raising and debt restructuring practice, an area of legal practice which has seen considerable recruitment interest among law firms internationally. 

He brings with him nearly 20 years of experience in finance, having worked for Magic Circle law firm Linklaters, as well as legacy Denys Reitz, now Norton Rose Fulbright, among others.

Significantly, Kyle has in-house nous in his finance portfolio, having spent five years advising investment bankers at Standard Bank, where he was first, senior legal counsel, and later, vice-president legal.

That awareness of what the market will bear, and what clients want, will serve him well at Bowmans, as will his experience of pan-African deals, while his ability to manage debt finance instructions, will add to the firm’s capabilities and strengthen its position in complex financing and restructuring transactions.

Kyle’s experience extends not just to commercial banks, investment banks and corporate borrowers, but also to creditors; including some of those involved in the AfriSam, Peermont and Land Bank debt restructuring transactions.

The dual-qualified South African attorney and solicitor will work from Bowman’s Durban office, but will split his time between Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa’s financial hub. 

Chairman, Robert Legh said, “The fact that Mark is also an English-qualified lawyer bolsters our finance offering across our growing geographical footprint”. 

Kyle’s arrival comes a month after Bowmans significantly ramped up its tax disputes capability in Kenya, with the arrival of partner, Andrew Oduor, and associates, Nelly Chepkoech and Maurice Manani, in the firm’s Nairobi office. 

Oduor joined the firm from Andrew & Steve Advocates, where he was a partner; he has 15 years of advocacy and tax advisory experience, having headed Dentons’ tax department in Kenya, as well as Big Four experience at Deloitte and PwC. 

The move enables Bowman’s existing tax lawyers, headed by Alex Mathini, to focus fully on advisory and transactional work, including due diligence. 

Both hires cap a period of expansion for Bowmans, which, as Africa Legal reported, recently agreed an alliance with Nigerian firm, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, while it expanded into Malawi and Zambia in June.

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