Okabonye Chukwuani is a Senior Associate in the firm’s Banking & Finance, Technology and Tax Practice Groups. He graduated with First Class in Law (LLB) from Baze University, Abuja, and is admitted to practise in Nigeria.
Okabonye has wide experience advising multinational and local entities throughout the value-chain and is one of a handful of lawyers in the Nigerian market with specialist expertise in three distinct legal practice areas (finance, technology and tax).
His significant finance experience covers project and corporate finance, capital market transactions, structured finance, fintech, foreign exchange and general financial advisory.
Okabonye has been deeply involved in technology advisory & compliance, having advised a significant number of international entities, such as Google, Amazon, Meta, YouTube, Apple, Uber, American Express, Mastercard, Western Union, VISA, the National Football League (NFL), McKinsey, Puma, DEG, Multigate, and many others. He has experiential depth in the areas of privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, data processing and cross border data transfers, payment processing, and e-commerce.
He also possesses years of tax experience, focusing on general tax advisory & structuring, and has advised foreign and local clients from a transactional level and a broader compliance perspective.
A Selection of Relevant Experience
-Advised an assortment of lenders and DFIs including the International Finance Corporation, US Development Finance Corporation, and the African Development Bank, on the US$ 1.2 billion financing to Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals Limited; Indorama Fertilizer FZE; and Meliora Methanol FZE, for the construction; commissioning and running of the third line expansion for the Indorama 1.4 MPTA urea fertilizer facility in Rivers State, Nigeria.
-Advised an assortment of 31 lenders (including Afrexim Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, SACE, K-sure, K-EXIM and commercial banks) on a precedent-setting US$3 billion multi-tranche corporate financing provided to Nigeria LNG Limited for the development of its Train 7 Expansion Project.
-Advised Amazon on the entire scope of its proposed entry into the Nigerian market (including the launch of Prime Video), entailing conducting extensive legal and regulatory due diligence, and advising on the entire range of applicable legal issues, including but not limited to: corporate advisory and incorporation, foreign exchange and currency controls, financial technology and payments regulations, data privacy concerns, intellectual property issues from the proposed business model, tax issues, regulatory interface and public policy, and other ongoing legal issues.
-Advised Mercuria Energy Group (as Junior Lender) on the structuring of its US$150 million financing (underwritten by Mercuria) in connection with the financing for Oando plc’s acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited from leading Italian energy company, Eni.
-The Joint Lead Managers (Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Limited, Coronation Merchant Bank Limited, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, JP Morgan Securities Plc and Renaissance Securities (Cyprus) Limited) on the combined US$1 billion high-yield bond issuances by Access Bank Plc. The two-tiered transaction included the first ever Additional Tier 1 (AT1) issuance in the Nigerian market, thus creating a new path for capital-raising among Nigerian banks.
-The Joint Lead Managers in connection with the issuance and sale of the approx. US$327 million Fixed Rate Subordinated Note Participation Notes by FBN Finance Company B.V. for the sole purpose of financing the purchase by the Issuer of a fixed rate subordinated (tier 2 capital) note issued by First Bank of Nigeria Limited. The transaction required creative terms and legal manoeuvring to get the transaction over the line, having proceeded into onerous conditions following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and global oil prices.
-The Arrangers/Dealers in respect of the EUR 3 billion English law governed EMTN bond programme update by Saipem Finance International BV and various upstream guarantees provided by Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited.
-Advised Google and other related Google entities on various data protection, privacy, advertising, lottery / gambling, and other regulatory compliance matters in connection with the launch or continued operation of a vast number of Google products and services in Nigeria.
-Advised YouTube on its US$100 million Black Voices Fund and on the launches of YouTube Premium and YouTube Music.
-Advised Apple on various tax matters, including tax structuring and compliance, permanent establishment / fixed base risks, income tax, significant economic presence, and other related issues.
-Advised VISA and Mastercard on tax compliance, permanent establishment / fixed base risks, VAT, WHT, significant economic presence, and other related issues.
Expertise
Banking & Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Media, Entertainment, Technology and Intellectual Property (METI), Tax.
