Significance of legal due diligence in M&A
Monday April 26 2021
The spectre of a dead deal loomed when it emerged that an employee of BOC Kenya Plc, an industrial and medical gas manufacturing company, which is currently involved in an acquisition process by Carbacid Investments Ltd and Aksaya Investments LLP, filed a labour dispute in court against the company for a claim of Sh15 million. The employee made an application to the Nairobi’s Industrial Court seeking to halt the acquisition until his claim is heard and determined.
The court’s riposte to that petition was to provisionally restrict BOC from pursuing its buyout deal; with Justice Mbaru Monica ordering it to temporarily hold off any merger, transfer or reorganisation of its business and/or disposal of assets until the said labour dispute was resolved. The court’s decision thwarted the progress of the buyout resulting in a substantial delay of the publication of key transaction documentation.