Captain Athena
Calm seas never made a good sailor.
– Franklin D. Roosevelt –
Stella Muraguri
Managing Partner
Strategic. Creative. Adventurous. Incisive.
Bio
These are words that describe Stella’s approach and personality. She has a never-say-die attitude and looks at legal adversity and commercial pitfalls as a way to redefine the path to creating new jurisprudence.
Stella believes that in this age of disruption, businesses require a legal partner that understands global trends, disruption positioning whilst also offering modern-day business commercial legal solutions.
To this end, Stella has dedicated her time to business courses which she has leveraged by successfully guiding clients through commercial legal intricacies.
Stella enjoys putting together complex 1000 piecer puzzles and cycling. She considers cycling as her way of reducing her carbon footprint.
Her current mission as Managing Partner is to create a globally respected brand that is solution-centric and recognized for excellence.
Professional Background
- Finance for Non-Finance Business Course-2022 – Strathmore Business School.
- Female Future Leadership Program-Women in Boards-FKE 2020-2021.
- Owner Manager Program (2018-2019)-Strathmore Business School.
- Member of the Law Society of Kenya.
- An Advocate of the High Court of Kenya (2012).
- Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (2009).
- Certified Public Accounts Section 1 and 2 (2008).
Key Achievements
- Successfully defended several banks which were sued for non-compliance with the proceeds of Crime and Anti-money laundering Act and which suit was instituted by a suspected money laundering cartel seeking to use the banks as an avenue to receive proceeds of crime.
- Successfully defended multiple Banks against injunctive orders which unlocked billions of non-performing loans through asset realization and settlement agreements.
- Successfully defended Islamic Banks in the realization of assets where defaulters would rely on the ground that Islamic Banks have no right to realize properties during default due to Musharaka Principles.
- Successfully defended several Banks that were sued on the grounds of unlawful listings on the Credit Reference Bureau and demonstrated that listings are a statutory obligation in so long as the same is within the province of the law and therefore not defamatory or malicious.
- Successfully defended several Banks that have been sued on the grounds of honouring cheques issued by directors of a company who had Director’s disputes by relying on the Turquand Rule.
- Successfully mediating local and international corporate client debt disputes exceeding the sum of USD 1.7 Million through various debt settlement deeds and arrangements.
- Acted for a local microfinance Bank in its acquisition by a foreign investor joint venture from Singapore and Hong Kong worth USD 10 Million by obtaining the relevant approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities.
- Drafted a profit-sharing agreement for two local companies venturing into the supply of medical equipment to government and private hospitals within the country worth Kshs. 420,000,000.00.
- Prepared shareholders agreements for various companies both local and international encapsulating the various rights and benefits of the shareholder in these companies.
- Prepared comprehensive logistics contracts for a top-notch logistics company incorporated in Kenya worth Kshs. 500,000,000.00 for the transport of drilling equipment from the Mombasa port to Nakuru county.
- Advised and assisted a French company in obtaining various licenses and approvals from the Kenya Poisons and Pharmacy Board for their supply of testing kits in the Kenyan jurisdiction worth Kshs. 97,000,000.00.
- Advised a Local Construction Company on a debt restructure worth Kshs. 303,000,000.00 with an Islamic Bank in line with its Musharaka partnership financial product.
- Advised a donor fund from Austria on the Public Private Partnership process and requirements in Kenya.
- Acted as transactional advocates for several companies that have been listed on the Ibuka Program. This is an incubation and acceleration program that seeks to end a prolonged listing drought at the bourse by taking small and medium-sized companies through a 10-month incubation period.
- Acted on the acquisition of a Bank listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange offering regulatory and transactional advice on the offer and the take-over documentation.
- Acted as legal adviser for an Acquirer in a proposed acquisition of minority shareholding in a cable company by way of a share swap. This entailed full regulatory compliance and transactional advisory.
- Litigation in a judicial review suit challenging the validity of an offer made by an offeror company to the offeree company under the Capital Markets (Take-Overs and Mergers) Regulations (2002), issued under the Capital Markets Act (“CAP 485A” ) where the offer was based on a contingent contract.
- Successfully handled a litigation suit on the compensation of persons who had suffered a pecuniary loss of Kshs. 120,000,000.00 as a result of fraudulent dealings by stock brokers and obtained
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- Successfully defended employers in the Employment and Labor Relations Court and obtained compensation in counterclaims where employees caused loss through fraud, embezzlement, loan facilities, misuse of data, stealing or misuse of funds.
- Successfully counterclaimed against a bank’s ex-employees who instituted employment suits against said banks. Any loss occasioned by the ex-employees through fraud or theft was successfully debited from any claims due to such an ex-employee.
- Advising and representing an international chain of hypermarkets in insolvency proceedings before the Kenyan High Court in restructuring a corporate debt book exceeding the sum of Kshs. 2,000,000,000.00 through one of the first successful Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) under Kenya’s recently insolvency laws.
- Advising and representing an international private security firm and an international pharmaceutical equipment manufacturer in insolvency proceedings before the Kenyan High Court in the recovery of corporate debts accrued in Kenya exceeding the sum of Kshs. 78,000,000.00 against local insolvent corporate debtors.
- Successfully defended an equipment leasing company at the tax appeals tribunal after receiving an agency notice claiming that the client owed the local tax authority Kshs. 268,000,000.00.
- Negotiated multiple settlement agreements with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on behalf of our clients by stretching out repayment of back tax as well as reducing or negating penalties charged;
- Successfully restrained the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) from demanding withholding tax worth Kshs. 6,000,000.00 and, with the help of our internal tax auditors, reduced the claim to Kshs. 45,000,000.00
