Apollo Nelson Makubuya

BACKGROUND

Apollo is one of the founding partners of MMAKS Advocates. He heads the Commercial Transactions team. With 26 years in legal practice, he specialises in corporate and commercial transactions including company incorporation, governance and restructuring, mergers and acquisitions in various fields such as banking, insurance and oil and gas.

Apollo is a graduate of Cambridge University, UK and holds a first-class honours Bachelor’s law degree from Makerere University and a Diploma in Legal Practice. He is a Senior Advocate qualified to practice law in all courts of Judicature in Uganda. He has handled several high-profile commercial transactions in real estate, energy and mining sectors. These include deals on the National Oil Refinery, the Kampala Storage Terminal, Kilembe Mines, Bujagali Power Station, Kampala Flyover Project and the Namanve industrial park.

Additionally, he routinely advises on regulatory aspects in the banking, telecommunications, and insurance sectors. Apollo is a former Chairman of Equity Bank Uganda and is the current chair of Prudential Assurance Uganda Ltd. He has previously worked as a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law Makerere University and with a private commercial bank and Uganda’s Central Bank.

He is the Senior Palace Advisor to Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II and has served in many senior capacities in the Kingdom of Buganda including as Deputy Katikkiro, Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Apollo is the Vice Diocesan Chancellor of Luweero Diocese church of Uganda and a member of the Uganda National Covid Fund.

MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

• Advocate, High Court of Uganda

• Member, Uganda Law Society 

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• LL.M, Cambridge University, England

• LL.B (Hons), Makerere University

CAREER SUMMARY

• 2005 - DATE Partner, MMAKS Advocates

• 1999 - 2005 Partner, Central Law Offices, Uganda

• 1995 - 1999 Company Secretary, Cotton Development Organisation

• 1993 - 1995 Company Secretary and Manager, Legal Department, Sembu Uganda (now Allied Bank)

• 1991 - 1993 Legal Assistant, Katende, Sempebwa & Co. Advocates

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

• Corporate M&A

• Energy, Mining and Natural Resources

• Arbitration

• Tax & Revenue Law

• Constitutional Law

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES

Apollo is endorsed by Who’s Who Legal 2011 as a leading mining lawyer

TOP MATTERS

• Advising a Private Equity fund based in the UK, on its proposed acquisition (through an SPV incorporated by it) of shares in Bujagali Holding Power Company Limited (BHPCL), which is a shareholder in Bujagali Energy Limited (BEL). The transaction involved conducting a comprehensive legal due diligence on the operations and existing contractual status of both BHPCL and BEL with the Government of Uganda, completing detailed regulatory questionnaires on foreign investment and hydro power regulation in Uganda, and reviewing and commenting on the transaction agreements from a Ugandan law perspective.
• Acting for Sanlam Limited, the holding company of the Sanlam group of companies, in connection with its proposed joint venture with the Allianz group of companies. We are advising Sanlam on the financial, competition, tax and corporate related matters.

• Advising Gateway Delta Development Holdings, a Mauritian real estate development company, in connection with its acquisition of Metroplex Shopping Mall, including conducting a due diligence on the shopping mall, drafting and negotiating the business and asset purchase agreement, drafting and filing relevant statutory forms for transfer of property as well as obtaining necessary consents from government authorities.

• Acting for Mandela Auto Spares (t/a Café Javas) in connection with the acquisition of three property leases from Good African Coffee and Good African Café, including drafting and negotiating of the sale agreement of the property leases.

• Acting for Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) in sourcing a strategic partner to undertake and implement the Kampala Storage Terminal (KST) Project. We are involvedin the commercial and financial structuring of the KST project, specialist legal advisory services, advisory on the selection of UNOC’s strategic partner including preparation of Terms of References (TORs), Information Memoranda, and term-sheets for key financing and commercial agreements, documentation of UNOC’s equity contribution to the project and advisory during commercial negotiations.

• Advising Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) that was approached by Yaatra together with its partners: Saipem, Lion Works and Baker Hughes - a General Electric Company – (the “Consortium”), with respect to contributing to the financing of the development of the 60,000 barrels per day refinery, a 211 km pipeline to transport the refined crude, an on-site storage facility and separate receiving storage terminal in Buloba on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda.

• Acting as lead local counsel to a Middle Eastern Private Equity investor in a potential acquisition of a stake in a prominent hydro power project in Uganda. The advice involves corporate governance and compliance issues, regulatory permits, environmental compliance, employment laws, property laws, insurance, etc.

• Advising the Uganda Investment Authority on the set up and development of an industrial park under a 30 year concession.

• Lead advisor to several mining companies in Uganda on the legal and regulatory framework governing all aspects of investment, licensing and extraction of minerals in Uganda.

• Lead advisor to private equity and other strategic investors on acquisitions and sales of majority and minority stakes in companies in the industry.

• Lead local counsel to a Swiss mining company under an acquisition of a majority stake in a mining company in Uganda valued at approx. USD 100,000,000.

• Lead local counsel to LAP GreenN on the proposed acquisition of a leading mobile telecommunications operator in Uganda.

• Advised on joint venture (farm-in) agreement between Ugandan mining company and UK publicly registered company.

• Lead advisor to National Housing and Construction Company Limited, on real Estate, Financing and Conveyancing matters.

• Advising on a Credit Facility Agreement between PROPARCO and a local financial institution in the sum of USD 10 million.

• Lead advisor to several private equity and other strategic investors on acquisitions and sales of majority and minority stakes in companies in the mining and energy industry.