Richard Harney

Richard Harney is the Senior Partner of Bowmans Kenya, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, finance, restructuring, and corporate law. With over 30 years of experience in Kenya, he is consistently involved in the most prominent transactions in the region, having co-founded the Nairobi office in 2008 and served as Managing Partner until 2021.

Richard has led numerous high-profile transactions, including advising Lipton Teas and Infusions B.V. on the sale of its tea plantations businesses in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania to Browns Investments plc; Hollard International on its investment in Apollo Investments; CVC Capital Partners on its acquisition of Unilever's tea plantations business; KCB Group PLC on its acquisition of 85% of TMB Bank SA in the DRC; and Commercial Bank of Africa on its USD 4 billion merger with NIC Bank to create NCBA Bank Group PLC, the third largest banking group in East Africa. He also advised Kenya Airways on its USD 2 billion balance sheet restructuring, which included USD 750 million in sovereign guarantees from the Government of Kenya, debt-for-equity conversions, and a USD 175 million term facility from a syndicate of Kenyan banks.

Richard holds a BA (Hons) in History from the University of Exeter. He is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Solicitor (England & Wales). He is a board member of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance.

He has been ranked as a Senior Statesman for Corporate/M&A by Chambers Global (2026), inducted into The Legal 500's Hall of Fame for Commercial, Corporate and M&A (2019–2026), and rated as a Market Leader by IFLR1000 for Restructuring and Insolvency, Banking and M&A. He was also awarded the World Bank Award for Excellence for his work on the privatisation of Kenya Airways in 1996.