Shakila Khan

Practice Areas

Banking & Finance; Capital Markets: Equity; Capital Markets: Debt; Capital Markets: Exchange Traded Funds; Derivatives; Competition; Corporate/M&A; Energy & Natural Resources ; Mining; Environment: Regulatory and Litigation; Infrastructure; Infrastructure PFI/PPP; Financial Services; Investment Funds; Private Equity; Projects; Public Procurement; and Restructuring/Insolvency.

Career

Shakila Khan completed her legal education in England and was called to the Bar in England and Wales in 2004. She has an LLM from the University of London with a special emphasis on Law and Development issues and was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of Botswana in 2007. In London, Shakila commenced her career with an internship at Slaughter & May, on return home to Botswana, Shakila first joined Collins Newman and then served two years at Armstrongs Attorneys in the Corporate/Commercial Department, followed by co-founding the firm BookbinderKhan as a Partner.

Shakila then established Khan Corporate Law (KCL) in December 2010 as 100% Citizen and Female-owned niche corporate law firm. KCL has handled some significant transactions since it was established and domestic and international market recognition for its strengths continues to grow. Shakila has been ranked as a leading lawyer in Chambers Global Guide every year from 2013 to date and has been endorsed as a “Leading Lawyer” in the International Financial Law Review (IFLR1000)/Petroleum Economist: Energy and Infrastructure Guides and Corporate and Financial Guides from 2015 to date.

Professional Memberships

Called to the Bar of England and Wales (non-practicing Barrister), England and Wales, 2004

Member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, London

Admitted to practice as an Attorney, in the Republic of Botswana, 2007

Member of the Law Society of Botswana

Clients

Sandfire Resources.

Lotus Resources Limited.

Sandvik.

Botswana Insurance Fund Management Limited.

Botswana Savings Bank.

Botswana Housing Corporation.

ENS South Africa.

Turnstar Holdings Limited.

Letlole La Rona.

Absa Bank Botswana Limited.

Stanbic Bank Botswana Limited.

First National Bank of Botswana Limited.

Work Highlights

Shakila Khan was the first woman from Botswana to be recognised in Chambers and Partners in 2013.

Notable Transactions include:

•Botswana legal counsel, alongside ENS South Africa to Greenpoint Specialised Lending Proprietary Limited in respect of the cancellation of previous security taken over a Borrower’s Botswana subsidiary and the provision of new security, post a Borrower Group restructure, to Greenpoint (2023-2024).

• Local legal counsel, alongside Webber Wentzel South Africa, as counsel to Absa Bank Botswana Limited and Stanbic Bank Botswana Limited as Lenders and Joint Sustainability Coordinators to Norsad Capital Limited in terms of a Sustainability-Linked Term Facilities of ZAR 680 million (2023).

•Legal Counsel to Strides of Success Proprietary Limited in negotiating and settling a ZAR 88 million loan facility agreement with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (2023).

•Legal Counsel to Fujax Minerals and Energy Limited and Butler Phirie N.O. in an application to put Cradle Arc Investments Proprietary Limited in provisional liquidation and to negotiate a settlement of their claims with an investor as part of a broader restructure of Leboam Holdings Limited t/a Mowana Copper (2020- 2022).

•Legal Counsel to Botswana Diamonds Plc on the due diligence and negotiation of the share purchase agreement in relation to the purchase of Gem Diamonds Botswana from Gem Diamonds Limited (2021).

•Legal Counsel to the Minerals Development Company Botswana (Proprietary) Limited on an operational review of a key Government joint venture (2019);

•Botswana Legal Counsel to Sandvik Credit AB and Sandvik Sandvik AB, a world leader in the manufacture of mining equipment and rock excavation, in respect of their anticipated supply and finance of underground mining equipment in Botswana (2019- 2020);

•Botswana Legal Advisor to Sandfire Resources NL in its takeover of the MOD Resources companies and their copper exploration interests in Botswana (2019);

•Botswana legal counsel to Resource Capital Fund equity investment into Cupric Canyon Capital LP in relation to its construction of the Khoemacau Copper Project in respect of the due diligence on the project in Botswana (2019).

•Legal Counsel to Fujax Minerals and Energy Limited And Butler Phirie N.O. in an application to put Leboam Holdings Limited t/a Mowana Copper under Judicial Management (2018-2019).

•Legal Counsel to the Minerals Development Company Botswana (Proprietary) Limited on the valuation of Botswana Ash (2017).

•Local legal Counsel to the Minerals Development Company Botswana (Proprietary) Limited on its negotiating team with a foreign mining company (2017-2018).

•Legal Counsel to the Minerals Development Company Botswana (Proprietary) Limited on the supervision and assessment of the valuation of a mining asset in South Africa (2017).

•Legal Counsel to the Minerals Development Company Botswana (Proprietary) Limited on the Tier 2 transfers structuring the inception report from a legal basis of the transfers on the diamond assets held by the Government of Botswana (2016-2017).

•Legal Counsel to the Minerals Development Company Botswana (Proprietary) Limited on the acquisition of the BCL Group, the 15% Government interest in De Beers and the unbundling and subsequent acquisition of Morupule Coal Mine Limited (2016).

•Legal advisor in a consortium with KPMG Botswana instructed by KPMG Korea to assist a foreign client in relation to the Mabesekwa Project - a 300 Mega Watt Power Station IPP Project to be established in Botswana to supply power to South Africa. KCL provided a full legal and regulatory report and regulatory matrix in respect of the anticipated project, from development up to the stage of power generation and cross border supply (2016).

•Botswana legal advisor to a short-listed bidder on regulatory and corporate issues pursuant to a tender for the engineering, design, procurement, construction, operation, and ultimate decommissioning of a power plant and ancillary infrastructure – Morupule B Phase II Units 5 & 6 (2015).

•Botswana Legal Counsel on BCL Limited’s Acquisition of Norilsk’s interests in Botswana- Botswana legal counsel in relation to the mining, corporate and property due diligence on the purchase by BCL Limited of the Norilsk Group’s interests in Tati Nickel Mining Company Limited (2014). In addition, acted as Botswana legal counsel on the purchase by BCL Limited of the Norilsk Group’s interests in Tati Nickel Mining Company Limited and other Botswana mining interests and the ministerial consent to the transfer (2014).

•Legal advisor and member of core team to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers Consortium advising the Ministry of Mines, Minerals, Energy and Water Resources on the design and commissioning of a Minerals Investment Company for the Government of Botswana. This included, inter alia a legal due diligence on all current Government mining interests for the purpose of making recommendations on transfer, the drafting of constitutional and corporate governance documents relating to the SPV and to the Minerals Development Company of Botswana Limited as well as reports covering aspects relating to transfer, competition law, corporate governance and wider issues such as the legal implications of state-owned enterprises and their role in governance of the industry and issues of competitive-neutrality (2013).

Education