Ezekiel Tuma

Ezekiel Tuma is the Managing Partner of ASAR and a senior corporate and finance partner based in Kuwait, with over 25 years of experience. His practice spans public and private M&A, private equity, and venture capital transactions, and he advises a range of clients including founders, corporates, financial institutions, and investors across sectors such as banking, TMT, energy, education, and aviation.

He also acts for borrowers and lenders on a wide range of financing transactions, including bilateral and syndicated facilities, project finance, and acquisition finance. His experience includes both conventional and Sharia-compliant structures.

Ezekiel regularly advises on restructuring and insolvency matters and has been involved in many of Kuwait’s significant restructuring transactions since joining the firm in 2008. His work includes advising on cross-border and domestic restructurings, reorganisations, and insolvency risks.

In the aviation sector, he advises on the sale, lease, financing, and repossession of aircraft and engines, acting for lessors, owners, manufacturers, and operators.

He is recognised by IFLR1000 as a Highly Regarded Lawyer in Banking, M&A, and Asset Finance.

• Ezekiel led ASAR’s team advising the purchaser on the USD 3.4 billion acquisition of a 93.4% stake in Kuwait Food Company (Americana), a then-listed Kuwaiti entity. The deal, which was recognised as IFLR’s M&A Deal of the Year (2017), was one of the most complex public M&A transactions in Kuwait and set multiple legal and procedural precedents.

• Ezekiel also acted as Kuwaiti counsel to the founding shareholders of Carriage Logistics on the sale of their shares to Delivery Hero. This high-value start-up exit helped shape the M&A landscape for venture-backed businesses in Kuwait and was shortlisted for IFLR’s M&A Deal of the Year (2017).

• Ezekiel advised Global Investment House on its USD 1.7 billion debt restructuring and subsequent re-restructuring. The initial phase involved more than 50 creditors and multiple debt classes, while the later restructuring relied on an English scheme of arrangement to bind non-consenting creditors. The transaction was awarded IFLR’s Restructuring Deal of the Year (2010).

• In the aviation sector, Ezekiel advises on cross-border transactions involving aircraft leasing, sales, and financing. He has recently acted for AWAS, AerCap, DVB Bank, and Gulf International Bank on matters involving the lease and sale of Airbus aircraft to Kuwaiti operators.

• Asset finance
• Banking
• M&A
• Private equity
• Restructuring and insolvency

• Aviation
• Banking
• Financial services
• Investment management
• Oil and gas

• Master of Laws (LLM) in Commercial Law (first class), University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2000
• Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Law Development Centre, Uganda, 1998
• Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Makerere University, Uganda, 1997

• Member of the Uganda Law Society, 1999
• Member of the East Africa Law Society, 1999

• Member, of the International Bar Association, 2002
• Admitted to the Ugandan Bar, 1999