Michelle Chikezie

We were founded in 1994. Challenging corporate finance litigation and transactions – especially mergers and acquisitions, capital markets work and structured lending – have always and will always have a central place in our repertoire.

We have become one of Nigeria’s leading business law firms. We have always had an international outlook. We have a reputation for, and an outstanding record of, carrying out critical, innovative and complex work to the highest standards.

We have advised and represented our clients on several of the most significant recent developments in Nigerian business law practice, particularly in the fields of sales of businesses, infrastructure financings denominated in hard currencies and tax and securities law disputes.

We are organized as seven practice skill groups operating across eight sectors of the economy. The practice groups are: dispute resolution; corporate (including mergers and acquisitions and private equity); banking; capital markets; tax; intellectual property; and employment.

The eight sectors are: financial services, oil-and-gas; electric power; telecommunications, media and technology; agribusiness, food and healthcare; trade and industry; transport and logistics; and construction and real estate (“fast moving consumer goods” occur in several of these sectors). There are clients of many nationalities and every size in these sectors.

They range from foremost global multinational enterprises to a number of ambitious, home-grown fledglings, from government-controlled enterprises (we have advised on numerous privatizations) to companies controlled entirely by private sector actors.

We have and maintain numerous contacts in Nigerian business and government circles, and with law firms and lawyers’ organizations based both in and outside Nigeria. We are a member of Africa Legal Network (ALN), an association of leading independent law firms founded and based in Africa. We are also quite unusual in having the quality management certification of ISO 9001:2008. 

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• LL.B (University of Lagos); 
• B.L (Nigerian Law School) Graduated with First Class Honours
• LL.M (New York University) 
• Member of the Nigerian Bar.
• Group: Finance; Corporate
• A Partner. 

Michelle Chikezie is a partner in G. Elias & Co.  She holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws degrees from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and New York University School of Law respectively.

Michelle leads much of the firm’s capital market, structured finance, venture capital, and private equity transactions. She is admitted to practice law in both Nigeria and New York state, USA.

Some of Michelle’s work include:

• advice to a leading pan-African financial services institution with a global footprint on the establishment of a US$1.5 billion medium term note programme and first issuance thereunder.
• advice to the joint lead managers on a US$350million Eurobond outing by the Nigerian subsidiary of a pan African commercia bank.
• advice to a Nigerian multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in Lagos on its US$300million Eurobond outing.
• advice to Nigeria’s foremost telecommunications company of a N2 billion equity issuance shelf programme (2,814,830,718 ordinary shares), and first series issuance of up to 575,000,000 ordinary shares under the programme.
• advice to a US Private Equity Fund on a series of structured financings in amounts over US$100million (securitization) of businesses operating in various industries across Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius and potentially other African countries.
• advice to the lead investor, a New York-based venture capital fund, in the Series A US$55 million financing of Kuda Technologies Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales and the parent company of Kuda Microfinance Bank.
• advice to a global impact investment fund on a proposed US%151 million equity and debt investments in an insurance holding company in Nigeria.
• advice to a financial services company on the establishment and issuance of seven (7) commodities linked fixed income securities and exchange traded funds with sizes of N250 billion (approx. US$667 million).
• advice to a leading telecommunications infrastructure and wireless service provider in Nigeria in connection with the acquisition by a private equity fund of a super majority equity stake in the company worth US$100 million.
• advice on the first long-term (20 years) non-sovereign bonds offering (N5 billion) by a free zone company in Lagos.
• advice to a publicly listed cement company on the establishment of a N250 billion bond programme and the N115 billion first series issuance under the programme.

Contact:

Michelle Chikezie can be reached on [email protected]; +234 905 368 4134.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellechikezie

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