Desai Law Group

Founding and Managing Partner: Rizwan Desai

Partners: Eleng Mugabe

Number of partners: 2

Number of lawyers: 6

Languages: English, Setswana

Firm Overview:

DLG is Botswana’s fastest growing law firm founded in 2016. Although the Firm itself is new, its principals are well known in the Botswana corporate circles and have decades of collective experience. The firm has specialist expertise in several practice areas including corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, banking and finance, competition law, corporate governance and compliance, property, telecommunications, mining, energy, employment law and dispute resolution.

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate & Commercial Law:

■ Lead Legal advisors to Choppies Enterprises Limited in relation to various regulatory issues

■ Legal advisors to the Marubeni / Posco consortium in respect of an Independent Power Purchase deal in relation to the Morupule Units 5 & 6 Project (Botswana Power Corporation) (BWP 10 billion)

■ Legal advisers to Investec and Air Botswana in an acquisition of two Embraer E170 MSN aircraft

■ Botswana legal advisors for the selling shareholders in Spark Capital in respect of the sale of a potential majority stake in the company to a consortium including large South African private equity investors (Potential deal value: approx. BWP700 million)

■ Acting for the Phakalane Group of Companies (Botswana’s largest private residential real-estate developers and town planners) in its group restructuring

■ Advisors to Mascom Wireless for the provision of various telecommunications and regulatory advice

■ Acting for Botswana Oil in its proposed joint venture with Oman Trading International Trading Limited (an entity wholly controlled by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman) for purposes of undertaking supply and trading activities for oil and related commodities in Botswana and the broader Southern African markets

■ Acting for Time Projects Botswana in relation to the acquisition by PrimeTime Property Holdings Limited (a variable rate loan stock public company listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange) of Time Projects Botswana

■ Advisors to Liquid Telecom for the provision of various telecommunications and regulatory advice

■ Advisors to Mascom Wireless (Proprietary) Limited for the provision of various telecommunications and regulatory advice

■ Local advisors to Ithuba National Lottery (the licensed operator of the South African National Lottery), regarding regulatory advice on the gaming and gambling sector in Botswana

■ Legal advisors to the Private Enterprises, Evaluation and Privatization Agency, in relation to the separation of the Botswana Meat Commission Maun Abattoir from the Botswana Meat Commission, to a separate SPV

■ Legal advisors to the IFC, in relation to a PPP project for the development of a wastewater recycling plant

Key Clients: Private Enterprises, Evaluation and Privatization Agency,Wilderness Holdings Limited, Choppies Enterprises Limited, Marubeni Corporation, Mascom Wireless Botswana, Turnstar Holdings Limited and Bank of Botswana

Contacts: Rizwan Desai; Angelica Bojosi; Eleng Mugabe and Walter Mushi

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

Mergers & Acquisitions:

■ Botswana legal advisors in the proposed acquisition by Glencore of Chevron’s assets in Botswana, in connection with the downstream sale by Chevron of its Southern Africa oil assets valued at approximately US$1 billion

■ Local counsel to TPG and FSI Investors in relation to the acquisition by TPG and by an affiliate of FSI Investors of the shares held in Wilderness Holdings (off market)

■ Legal advisors to an international property investment company in relation to a proposed acquisition of shares in a local property company listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange

■ Advising Grit Real Estate Income Group Limited on various matters, specifically in relation to the takeover provisions in Botswana

Key Clients: Wilderness Holdings Limited and Grit Real Estate Income Group Limited

Contacts: Rizwan Desai; Eleng Mugabe and Walter Mushi

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

Capital Markets:

■ Legal advisors in the listing of CA Sales Limited on the Botswana Stock Exchange

■ Legal advisors to Draganfly Investments Limited, an AIM listed entity in relation to the purchase of a controlling interest in Kalahari Metals Limited

■ Lead legal advisors to the Botswana Stock Exchange in relation to its demutalisation

■ Lead legal advisors to Cradle Arc Plc in its proposed listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange and listing on AIM (GBP 2 million)

Key Clients: Botswana Stock Exchange, PSG Capital and Cradle Arc Plc.

Contacts: Rizwan Desai; Angelica Bojosi; Eleng Mugabe and Walter Mushi

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

Banking & Finance:

■ Legal advisors to Barclays Bank of Botswana in a BWP 500 million syndicated loan by Barclays Bank of Botswana and other Lenders

■ Legal advisors in a BWP 243 million loan by Barclays Bank of Botswana

■ Advising Norsad in respect of a USD 30 million funding facility with Barclays Bank of Botswana

■ Advising Norsad in respect of the restructuring of a USD10 million facility extended to Trustco Group Holdings

■ Advising Norsad in respect of a ZAR 100 million mezzanine facility extended to Swaziland Development Finance Corporation Limited

■ Advising Norsad in respect of a USD 30 million funding facility with Barclays Bank of Botswana Limited

■ Advising Norsad in respect of a USD 15 million line of credit facility with the Aras Bank for Economic Development in Africa

■ Advising Botswana Development Corporation in respect of a BWP 150 million senior secured facility pertaining to real estate acquisition and development

■ Advising Norsad in respect of the restructuring of a USD 10 million facility extended to Trustco Group Holdings

■ Advising Botswana Development Corporation in respect of a BWP 23 million senior and BWP 4.5 million mezzanine term facility to fund an acetylene and nitrogen oxide plant

■ Advising Norsad in respect of a USD 5 million mezzanine facility extended to Ecsponent Limited (Botswana)

■ Advising Norsad in respect of a syndicated senior debt facility to FZ Project

■ Advising Norsad on the restructuring of various debt and equity facilities extended to Focus Financial Services Limited

■ Advising Botswana Development Corporation in a USD 36 million secured loan facility

Key Clients: Barclays Bank of Botswana, Botswana Development Corporation, Norsad Finance and Choppies Enterprises

Contacts: Rizwan Desai; Eleng Mugabe and Walter Mushi

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

Competition Law:

■ Botswana legal advisor for Joy Global in the acquisition of all the outstanding shares in, and sole control of, Joy Global by Komatsu America Corporation

■ Legal advisors to the Competition Authority on amendments to the Competition Act

■ Local counsel to Wilderness Holdings on the proposed conditional offer by African Wildlife Holdings to acquire shares held by certain Wilderness Shareholders. Desai’s role included advising Wilderness Holdings on competition law obligations and a merger filing

■ Local advisers to the acquirer PSG Capital in an acquisition of one of Botswana’s largest tertiary schools

Key Clients: Joy Global, Competition Authority, Wilderness Holdings, PSG Capital

Contacts: Rizwan Desai; Eleng Mugabe and Walter Mushi

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

Employment Law & Dispute Resolution:

■ Acted for Motor Centre Botswana (the largest Toyota dealer and distributer in Botswana) in a successful tax appeal against the Botswana Unified Revenue Services before the Court of Appeal of Botswana

■ Acted for Wilderness Safaris in a dispute with a community trust

■ Acted for British American Tobacco and CA Sales Distribution Limited in a distribution contract dispute before the Competition Authority

■ Lead counsel in a ground breaking matter which set the law in relation to whether value added tax can be levied on sales in execution of immovable property

■ Acted for Soren Lindstrom Safaris and Natural Selection Safaris in a contractual dispute with the Khwai Community Trust on the interpretation and effect of a review clause in a lease agreement

Key Clients: Mascom Wireless Botswana, Water Utilities Corporation, CA Sales Distribution Limited, British American Tobacco and Wilderness Safaris

Contact: Bruno Williams

Email: [email protected]