Our Practice

Corporate governance is the foundation upon which enduring companies are built, and it is the area most likely to produce personal liability for those who treat it as a formality. Lexkara & Co advises boards, chairpersons, non-executive directors, and senior executives on the full spectrum of corporate governance matters — from the architecture of board structures and the drafting of articles of association, to the management of shareholder disputes, activist campaigns, and regulatory investigations that test governance frameworks under pressure.

Kenneth Awoonor-Renner's practice in this area draws on over two decades of experience working with companies at every stage of their lifecycle. He has advised on governance matters for FTSE-listed companies, privately held groups, joint venture vehicles, and special purpose entities across multiple sectors. His work encompasses board effectiveness reviews, the establishment of audit and remuneration committees, succession planning, and the navigation of Companies Act 2006 obligations — including directors' duties under sections 171 to 177, which are increasingly the basis for personal claims against directors.

Lexkara & Co's clients are typically companies undergoing change: a new institutional investor demanding governance upgrades, a family business professionalising its board, or a listed company responding to shareholder requisitions. Kenneth's approach to governance is rooted in practical commercial advice rather than theoretical compliance. The question is never merely "what does the law require?" but "what governance structure will actually protect the board and the company in the scenarios that matter?"

Key legal frameworks involved include the Companies Act 2006, the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Listing Rules, the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, and the Market Abuse Regulation. Kenneth is also experienced in the governance requirements of regulated entities supervised by the FCA and PRA, including the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.

When commercial relationships break down, the legal strategy adopted in the first seventy-two hours often determines the outcome. Lexkara & Co provides immediate, senior-level counsel to businesses and executives facing high-value commercial disputes — from contractual claims and shareholder actions, to partnership dissolutions, fraud allegations, and cross-border enforcement proceedings. Kenneth Awoonor-Renner's twenty-one years of experience in this area mean that clients receive not just legal analysis, but strategic judgment informed by extensive pattern recognition across industries and jurisdictions.

The practice encompasses pre-action protocol compliance, urgent injunctive applications (including freezing orders and search orders), the conduct of litigation in the Business and Property Courts and the Commercial Court, and the management of multi-party disputes involving complex factual matrices. Kenneth has particular depth in disputes arising from M&A transactions — including warranty and indemnity claims, earn-out disputes, and breach of representations — as well as disputes concerning joint venture arrangements and the breakdown of commercial partnerships.

Lexkara & Co's approach to commercial disputes is defined by strategic pragmatism. Not every dispute should be litigated, and not every litigated dispute should go to trial. Kenneth advises clients on the full range of dispute resolution mechanisms, including negotiation, mediation, expert determination, and arbitration under the rules of the LCIA, ICC, and other leading institutions. Where litigation is necessary, Lexkara & Co works with panel solicitors and specialist barristers to assemble the right team for the dispute at hand — ensuring that the client's interests are advanced by advocates who understand both the law and the commercial context.

Clients in this practice area include company directors facing unfair prejudice petitions under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006, businesses pursuing or defending breach of contract claims, and organisations managing multi-jurisdictional disputes that require coordination across legal systems governed by the Brussels Regulation, the Hague Convention, or bilateral treaty frameworks.

Transactions demand precision, speed, and the ability to see around corners. Lexkara & Co advises on mergers and acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, investment rounds, and corporate reorganisations — acting for buyers, sellers, management teams, and investors at every stage of the transaction lifecycle. Kenneth Awoonor-Renner's experience in this area spans share purchases and asset purchases, private equity-backed leveraged buyouts, public-to-private transactions, and complex multi-jurisdictional structuring exercises.

The firm's transactional practice is distinguished by the seniority of the advice and the directness of the relationship. There is no pyramid structure: the counsel who negotiates the heads of terms is the same counsel who reviews the SPA, analyses the disclosure letter, and advises on completion mechanics. This model eliminates the information loss that afflicts larger firms, where transaction knowledge is diluted through layers of delegation. The result is faster execution, tighter documentation, and fewer surprises at closing.

Kenneth regularly advises on the structuring of transactions to achieve optimal commercial, regulatory, and tax outcomes. This includes advising on the choice between share and asset acquisition structures, the use of holding company and SPV architectures, the structuring of deferred and contingent consideration arrangements, and the design of management incentive schemes. His work in venture capital structuring — drawing on his LLM in Venture Capital Law from the University of Westminster — is particularly valued by growth-stage companies and their investors.

The legal frameworks engaged in this practice include the Companies Act 2006, the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, the Competition Act 1998, the Enterprise Act 2002, the National Security and Investment Act 2021, and relevant EU merger control regulations for cross-border transactions. Kenneth works closely with specialist tax advisers and financial modellers to ensure that structuring decisions are legally robust, commercially defensible, and aligned with the client's broader strategic objectives.

The most consequential legal risks facing a company often do not appear in the legal department's risk register — they surface in the boardroom, in executive conversations about strategy, and in the decisions that directors make without realising they are making legal decisions at all. Lexkara & Co provides personal legal counsel to directors, C-suite executives, and founders who need a trusted adviser with both the legal expertise and the commercial judgment to guide them through situations where personal liability, fiduciary duty, and corporate strategy intersect.

Kenneth Awoonor-Renner acts as a confidential adviser to individuals, distinct from the company's own legal team. This is critical in situations where the interests of the individual director and the interests of the company may diverge: board disputes, regulatory investigations, whistleblowing allegations, dismissal or departure negotiations, and succession conflicts. Clients in this practice include chairpersons navigating activist investor campaigns, CEOs managing internal investigations, non-executive directors assessing their personal exposure, and founders negotiating with incoming institutional investors.

The practice also encompasses advice on directors' and officers' insurance coverage, the negotiation of service agreements and separation terms, restraint of trade and non-compete covenants, and the personal regulatory implications of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime for individuals in financial services. Kenneth's dual perspective — as both a corporate lawyer advising boards and a personal adviser to individual directors — provides clients with an unusually complete understanding of the dynamics at play.

This advisory practice operates on a retained basis or by engagement, depending on the client's preference. Many clients maintain Lexkara & Co on retainer as their personal counsel, separate from any firm instructed by their company, ensuring that they have immediate access to independent legal advice when the stakes are highest. The typical client is a senior professional who recognises that in modern corporate life, personal legal exposure is not a theoretical risk — it is a present reality that requires proactive management.

The regulatory environment in which UK businesses operate has become denser, more fragmented, and more punitive. Lexkara & Co advises companies and their senior management on regulatory compliance across multiple sectors, with particular depth in financial regulation, data protection, anti-money laundering, and sector-specific regulatory frameworks. Kenneth Awoonor-Renner's practice in this area is shaped by the understanding that compliance is not a cost centre — it is a strategic function that, when properly designed, creates competitive advantage and protects against existential risk.

The firm's regulatory work spans several dimensions. First, compliance architecture: the design and implementation of compliance programmes, policies, and reporting structures that satisfy regulatory expectations while remaining operationally workable. This includes GDPR compliance frameworks, AML/KYC programmes, the design of compliance monitoring systems, and the establishment of whistleblowing procedures compliant with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. Second, regulatory engagement: advising clients on their interactions with regulators including the FCA, PRA, ICO, CMA, and Ofcom, including responding to information requests, managing supervisory visits, and navigating enforcement proceedings.

Third, Kenneth advises on the regulatory implications of corporate events — acquisitions, disposals, new product launches, and market entries — that trigger notification, approval, or change-of-control obligations under sector-specific regulatory regimes. His experience spans the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Bribery Act 2010, and the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.

Lexkara & Co's regulatory clients are typically companies that have outgrown their existing compliance infrastructure, companies entering regulated markets for the first time, and senior individuals who face personal regulatory risk under regimes such as the Senior Managers and Certification Regime. Kenneth's approach emphasises proportionality: building compliance programmes that address genuine risk rather than generating compliance theatre.

Cross-border transactions and disputes present a distinctive set of challenges that domestic lawyers often underestimate: conflict of laws, regulatory divergence, enforcement uncertainty, and the cultural complexities of doing business across jurisdictions. Lexkara & Co advises UK and international clients on the legal dimensions of cross-border activity, drawing on Kenneth Awoonor-Renner's extensive experience in multi-jurisdictional transactions, international arbitration, and the coordination of legal teams across multiple legal systems.

The firm's international practice encompasses several core areas. In transactional work, Kenneth advises on the structuring of cross-border acquisitions, joint ventures, and investment platforms — including the choice of governing law and jurisdiction, the design of holding structures that achieve regulatory and tax efficiency, and the negotiation of agreements with counterparties operating under civil law, common law, and hybrid legal systems. In dispute resolution, the practice covers international commercial arbitration under the rules of the LCIA, ICC, SIAC, and other institutions, as well as cross-border enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards under the New York Convention, the Brussels Regulation, and the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements.

Kenneth has particular experience in transactions and disputes involving West Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and the European Union. His work has included advising sovereign wealth funds on investment mandates, structuring joint ventures between UK and Gulf-based entities, and managing multi-jurisdictional litigation where proceedings are running simultaneously in English and foreign courts. He also advises on sanctions compliance, export controls, and the extraterritorial application of UK and EU regulatory frameworks.

Lexkara & Co's approach to international matters prioritises coordination and efficiency. Rather than maintaining overseas offices, the firm works with a network of trusted local counsel in key jurisdictions, ensuring that clients receive jurisdiction-specific advice that is integrated with their UK legal strategy. This model avoids the overhead and conflicts of interest that can arise in large international firms, while delivering the same quality of multi-jurisdictional coordination.

Banking and finance transactions sit at the intersection of commercial law, regulatory law, and risk management. Lexkara & Co advises borrowers, lenders, sponsors, and fund managers on the full range of banking and finance matters — from bilateral facility agreements and syndicated lending arrangements, to private credit structures, fund formation, and the regulatory dimensions of financial services activity. Kenneth Awoonor-Renner's practice in this area combines his legal expertise with the commercial understanding that comes from advising on finance transactions for over two decades.

The firm's banking work includes advising on the negotiation and documentation of term loan facilities, revolving credit facilities, and bridge financing arrangements, as well as the creation and perfection of security packages (including debentures, charges over shares, and assignments of receivables and intellectual property). Kenneth regularly advises management teams on the finance aspects of leveraged buyout transactions, including the interplay between the SPA, the facilities agreement, and the intercreditor agreement — an area where many corporate lawyers lack the depth of understanding required to protect the client's interests effectively.

In fund structuring, Kenneth draws on his LLM in Venture Capital Law to advise on the establishment of private equity, venture capital, and private credit fund vehicles, including the drafting and negotiation of limited partnership agreements, carried interest arrangements, co-investment structures, and management fee frameworks. His experience spans both domestic and offshore fund structures, and he is familiar with the regulatory requirements applicable to fund managers under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive.

The practice also encompasses financial regulatory matters, including advising on the regulatory perimeter (whether activities require FCA authorisation), applications for regulatory permissions, and ongoing compliance with the FCA Handbook. Lexkara & Co's clients in this area include mid-market private equity firms, corporate treasurers, property developers seeking acquisition finance, and technology companies negotiating venture debt facilities.

Financial distress exposes companies, their directors, and their stakeholders to a unique constellation of legal risks — and the window for effective action is often measured in days, not weeks. Lexkara & Co advises companies approaching insolvency, directors navigating their duties in the zone of insolvency, creditors seeking to protect their positions, and acquirers evaluating distressed opportunities. Kenneth Awoonor-Renner's practice in this area is defined by the urgency and commercial pragmatism that distressed situations demand.

The firm's insolvency work encompasses formal insolvency processes — including administration, company voluntary arrangements (CVAs), pre-pack administrations, and liquidation — as well as informal restructuring negotiations, standstill agreements, and creditor compromises that aim to avoid formal insolvency altogether. Kenneth has particular experience in the director's perspective: advising boards on their duties as a company approaches the zone of insolvency, including the shift from shareholder primacy to creditor-interest duty, the requirements of section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (wrongful trading), and the personal liability risks arising from transactions at an undervalue and preferences.

For creditors, Lexkara & Co advises on the enforcement of security interests, the strategy for participation in creditor committees, the assessment of antecedent transaction claims, and the negotiation of debt-for-equity conversions and other restructuring mechanisms. For acquirers, the practice covers due diligence on distressed targets, the negotiation of pre-pack transactions with insolvency practitioners, and the regulatory and reputational considerations associated with acquiring businesses out of administration.

Key legal frameworks include the Insolvency Act 1986 (as amended by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020), the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the Pre-Pack Pool guidance, and the cross-border insolvency provisions of the UNCITRAL Model Law as adopted in Great Britain. Kenneth also advises on the interaction between insolvency law and other regulatory regimes — including employment law (TUPE), financial services regulation, and environmental liability — that can create unexpected obstacles in restructuring processes.

The telecommunications and technology sectors are characterised by rapid innovation, intensive regulation, and the constant interplay between technical capability and legal constraint. Lexkara & Co advises telecoms operators, technology companies, digital infrastructure providers, and their investors on the legal and regulatory challenges specific to these sectors. Kenneth Awoonor-Renner's background as a Chartered Engineer — with a BEng (Hons) in Mechatronics from King's College London — provides a technical fluency that distinguishes his advice in this area from that of lawyers without engineering training.

The firm's telecoms practice encompasses licensing and regulatory compliance under the Communications Act 2003, including obligations imposed by Ofcom on providers of electronic communications networks and services. Kenneth advises on spectrum licensing, interconnection agreements, access and co-location obligations, and the regulatory framework governing fibre and 5G network deployment. He also advises on telecoms disputes, including disputes before Ofcom and the Competition Appeal Tribunal, as well as commercial disputes between operators, infrastructure providers, and equipment suppliers.

In technology, the practice covers the negotiation and structuring of technology contracts — including software licensing agreements, SaaS contracts, development agreements, outsourcing arrangements, and technology transfer agreements. Kenneth advises on intellectual property strategy, including the protection of proprietary technology through patent, copyright, and trade secret frameworks, as well as open-source licensing compliance. His work also encompasses data protection matters specific to technology businesses, including the design of data processing frameworks, international data transfer mechanisms, and responses to regulatory investigations by the Information Commissioner's Office.

Lexkara & Co's clients in this sector include established telecoms operators navigating regulatory change, technology start-ups negotiating their first major enterprise contracts, digital infrastructure funds evaluating tower and fibre acquisition opportunities, and technology companies managing the legal implications of AI deployment. Kenneth's engineering background enables him to engage directly with technical teams and understand the operational realities that shape legal risk in these sectors — a capability that most legal advisers simply cannot offer.