Our Corporate and Commercial practice understands the complexity in navigating the legal landscape that companies operate in from a statutory and economic perspective. Our corporate and commercial law service offerings focus on presenting practical solutions to complicated problems, which includes the following areas:
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Competition Law
- Corporate Law
- BEE Restructuring
- Drafting of Commercial Agreements
Mergers & Acquisitions:
Supported by more than 30 years of experience in local and cross-border corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, we have distinguished ourselves as specialists in the field.
- Our services to clients include effective corporate transaction planning and strategic advice in relation to:
- Acquisitions and take-overs;
- Conglomerate mergers;
- Share disposals and share swaps;
- Deferred tax transactions;
- Drafting of purchase and sale agreements
Competition Law:
Competition Law (Anti-Trust) affects every business operating in the world today. The application of competition law necessitates a sound understanding of its principles.
- A merger refers to the change of control in a business where specified turnover or asset values are reached as prescribed by the Competition Act. Implementation without approval carries serious penalties. Further anticompetitive examples are - tender collusion, price fixing, anticompetitive conduct between competitors, firms and their suppliers or clients, abuse of dominance, minimum resale prices - all with grave consequences when breached. Our Competition Law services include:
- Merger advice, notifications and approvals across a range of industries;
- Abuse of dominance and prohibited horizontal and vertical agreements;
- Competition law implications on commercial agreements;
- Training / Education;
- Opinions;
- Representation at Competition Tribunal.
Corporate Law:
We understand the corporate and economic environment in which modern companies operate.
- With our experienced lawyers, we specialize in corporate structuring / restructuring of entities and focus on presenting practical solutions to complicated problems. With a sound understanding of the statutory provisions governing modern business entities in South Africa, our team provides quality legal services that include:
- Corporate structuring / restructuring;
- Legal Due Diligence investigations;
- Private Equity transactions;
- Registration of Entities;
- Joint Ventures;
- MOI and Shareholders’ agreements;
- Contract drafting and vetting.
BEE Restructuring:
Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a government ingenuity aimed at uplifting black business owners.
- According to the BEE regulations, companies must meet specific targets with respect to ownership, skills development and enterprise development, which elements are considered priority pillars. Private companies are required to apply the BEE codes if they want to do business in South Africa. We provide elegant and practical solutions to assist companies in attaining an appropriate BEE level, especially from an ownership perspective, which will in turn optimise BEE ratings.
Drafting of Commercial Agreements:
Typical commercial agreements are entered into by and between business corporations.
- Commercial agreements relate to a broad range of the business community including the financial and corporate sector, retail, manufacturing, agriculture, supply and distribution industries, etc. Our skilled team of lawyers contribute their different skills and knowledge to deliver commercial agreements tailored to client specific business operations and needs, which include agreements such as:
- Joint venture agreements;
- Agreements for the supply and distribution of goods and services;
- Finance facility and loan agreements;
- Licensing and franchising agreements;
- Employment contracts; etc.