Simeon O. Okoduwa

Nigeria

Alliance Law Firm
Alliance House, 71 Ademola Street
SW Ikoyi, Lagos
Nigeria

Tel: 01-9035352-5, 2707471-2

Email: simeon.okoduwa@alliancelf.com
Web: www.alliancelf.com

Simeon Oyakhilome Okoduwa is a legal practitioner and arbitrator. He is a Partner at Alliance Law firm and his core areas of expertise and law practice span Corporate & Commercial law, Dispute Resolution & Arbitration, Corporate Governance Audit & Remediation, Company Secretarial Services & Doing Business Advisory.

He started his professional career by undertaking active private legal practice, appearing before every hierarchy of the Nigerian Judiciary between 1993 and 2004 during which period he also developed a strong grounding in transactional legal practice. Thereafter, he forayed into banking where, by dint of hard work and professional competency, he secured several milestone achievements. Over the course of his banking journey, which spanned stints in UBA Plc, Citibank Nigeria Limited and Keystone Bank Limited, he rose through the ranks to assume several senior management positions/roles while providing strategic direction, leadership and uncommon value to all relevant stakeholders.

Specifically, he acted variously as Head – Legal Support & Advisory Unit in the Legal Services Division (UBA Plc); Manager – heading the Litigation Unit in the Legal & Company Secretariat Division (Citibank Nigeria Limited); Chief Legal and Compliance Officer – Investment Banking and Subsidiaries Group, Company Secretary – KBL Healthcare Limited, Deputy Head – Legal and Company Secretariat Division and Group Head – Asset Remedial Management in the Risk Management Directorate (All at Keystone Bank Limited).

As a banker, he had the privilege of, among other roles, influencing policy reforms in his capacity as member of the Legal Special Interest Working Group (LSIWG) which drafted the CBN Guidelines For Operations of Banks in Free Zones in 2014 and the Payment System Management Bill (PSMB ) – an initiative of the Payment System Vision (PSV) 2020 inaugurated by the CBN in February 2015. He rose to the level of Assistant General Manager heading the Asset Remedial Management Division of Keystone Bank Limited before becoming a Partner at Alliance Law Firm.                                                                                   

Following numerous professional trainings and certifications, he has, over the course of his career, acquired memberships of several professional bodies including the Nigeria Bar Association, the International Bar Association, the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria. He has won several awards including the prestigious Development in Nigeria Merit Awards (DINMA), which is a part of the PSR National Awards in 2018, in recognition of his accomplishments in the field of Law and Corporate Legal Services.

Mr. Okoduwa is an avid reader and has a passion for charitable and developmental causes.

This practice area focuses on providing legal advisory and transaction services in relation to banking, remediation of troubled bank assets, debt recovery and insolvency; financing and refinancing transactions; project finance; acquisition finance; asset finance; development finance; Islamic banking; capital markets, corporate finance, swaps and other derivative transactions; corporate advisory including mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, corporate restructurings, private equity financing, and money market transactions; capital market transactions including capital raising (debt and equity), securities’ floatation, listings and collective investment schemes; due diligence including corporate governance, risk management and regulatory compliance.
  • Advised Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc (“Seplat”) on its over US$500 million global IPO and dual listing of its shares on the Lagos and London Stock Exchanges.
  • Advised Neconde Energy Limited (“Neconde”) in connection with a USD $470 and upsized to US$720 million secured reserve-based lending from a syndicate of foreign and local banks.
  • Advised Neconde on a USD $640 Million Corporate loan transaction
  • Advised a Fund Manager on its N500M Money market fund.
  • Advised on a N30, 000,000,000 Transcorp Hotel Plc fixed rate bond issue series.
  • Advised on the financing of a multi million dollars multi – storey tower project in Lagos Island.
  • Advising a London based Bank on a US$225 million facility to a Nigerian borrower for the acquisition of a jack up rig from Asia.
  • Advised a mortgage company on its N28, 500,000,000 Offer for subscription via private placement.
  • Advised a fund established in the Cayman Islands on its proposed investment of up to US$1 million in a company incorporated in Mauritius, which loan is to be utilised by the company’s Nigerian subsidiary.
  • Advising Heritage Bank Company Limited in connection with the perfection of its security interests over the borrower’s assets to secure a N3.5 billion facility.
  • Acted as legal advisers to Dansa Foods Limited, a subsidiary company of the Dangote Group, in connection with a US$40 million finance facility from African Export-Import Bank.
  • Advising foreign institutional investors on cross-border arrangements in relation to trading in securities in Nigeria including corporate and government bonds.
  • Advising a Fund Manager in respect of its $1 Billion Euromoney Fund transaction;
  • Acted for Deap Capital Market & Trust Plc on its N8 billion public offer and several other public offers including an open-ended private equity fund.
  • Advising a London based Bank on the lending of the sum of US$80 million to an EPC contractor in Nigeria for a pipeline project.
  • Advised an indigenous conglomerate in connection with the negotiation of a US$242m facility from a Nigerian bank.
  • Acted as legal advisers to a London-based bank in connection with US$40 million finance to Fidelity Bank Plc.
  • Currently advising a major Nigerian oil and gas company on its intra-group corporate restructuring consisting of 15 different corporate entities operational in diverse sectors of the Nigerian economy.
  • Advised an investor on its acquisition of a significant interest in a quoted construction company in Nigeria which is a subsidiary of a major European infrastructure group.
  • Advised on a USD $585 acquisition of 45% interest in an OML
  • Advised on the divestment of 80% interest in NNPC and Shell Trade UK from NOLCHEM under the first phase of privitisation in Nigeria.
  • Advised on a merger transaction involving six banks
  • Advised on the divestment of six subsidiaries of a bank.
  • Advised on a merger transaction involving three insurance companies.
Alliance Law Firm is a dynamic partnership registered under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Our mission is to establish a world class, full service Nigerian law firm distinguished by its premium service. We incorporate a rich blend of traditional legal practice with the dynamism required to satisfy the constantly evolving dynamism of business in our result driven professional services.

With a seamless blend of industry-recognised partners, consultants and over 25 Associates operating from three offices spread around the key commercial centres of Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, our ability to provide value-added legal services to our clients’ sometimes complex needs has seen our reputation in the industry grow considerably. We present our clients with the broadest mix of cognate skills, and depth of expertise drawn from decades of experience in corporate commercial transactions and dispute resolution. Our up-to-date awareness of and participation in local and international commercial developments, which drive corporate commercial transactions enables us to adopt forward-facing approaches to legal issues referred to us.