Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr has won Mergermarket's Sub-Saharan Africa Legal Advisor of the Year award for 2011. The award was presented to Ian Hayes, Director and National Practice Head, Corporate and Commercial, at an awards ceremony in London last night.

Hayes commented on the firm's number 1 ranking, "Our team is delighted to have been recognised as Mergermarket's Sub-Saharan Africa Legal Advisor of the year after a very successful year working on a large number of M&A transactions in sub-Saharan countries.”

“This year, the firm has advised on a number of notable transactions, including the acquisition of the V & A Waterfront by the Public Investment Corporation and Growthpoint Properties; the acquisition by Johannesburg-based Steinhoff of French furniture company Conforama; the R5.9bn rights offer by Brait to its shareholders on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and the JSE and the subsequent acquisitions by Brait of a R5bn stake in Pepkor and a R1bn stake in Premier, and Arcelik's acquisition of leading white goods manufacturer, Defy Appliances.

"Another major deal which we advised on this year is the acquisition of South African listed Metorex, a company with copper and cobalt mining operations in the DRC and Zambia, by Jinchuan Group, a major Chinese multinational. The deal is valued at approximately US$1.2 billion,” notes Hayes.

Chris Ewing, Chairman of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr and 2011 Best Lawyer’s M&A lawyer of the year, says that with regards to mergers and acquisition activity in Africa, “There many good reasons why law firms should be looking at Africa as a development market. DLA Piper, which is recognised as the world's largest law firm, believes that market segmentation will see the growth of big local law firms and also the formation of large global business law firms.

“Mining is attracting a lot of investment because of Africa's vast resources, and tourism is also flourishing. However, there is a conflict between preserving the natural beauty of Africa for tourism and allowing room for development in other sectors. This presents plenty of opportunity for knowledgeable environmental lawyers.

“Together with the resources and expertise of DLA Piper's global practice, our combined experience and geographic spread produces the most extensive African capability of all global law firms. In the future, the lawyers in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Rwanda, for example, with whom we are currently allied, will be partners within one firm,” says Ewing.

Hayes adds, "This Mergermarket award, together with being ranked 1st in M&A deal flow in the South African DealMakers M&A awards for 2010, and in both deal flow and deal value for the 1st 3 quarters of 2011, shows the strength of our client base and underscores our client's confidence in the capabilities of our team."

With more than 52 M&A lawyers, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr has one of the largest corporate law practices in South Africa.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's affiliation with DLA Piper, one of the world's largest legal practices, means the firm has the depth and breadth of legal resources to advise on M&A transactions at both local and international level and is able to offer experience and insights drawn from 29 countries, so its clients benefit from a vast amount of international M&A experience. DLA Piper won Mergermarket's European Mid-market Advisor of the Year award for 2011 and was ranked first by Mergermarket in the league tables of legal advisers to Global M&A by deal count in the year 2010.

Contact:
Ian Hayes, Director and National Practice Head, Corporate and Commercial Practice, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr,
Tel: +27 (0)11 562 1234 or email: ian.hayes@dlacdh.com

Andrea Collocott, Head: Marketing, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr,
Tel: +27 (0)11 562 1281 or email: andrea.collocott@dlacdh.com

Angela Graham, Tel: 073 505 9012 yeahwrite@worldonline.co.za

Notes:
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is one of the largest commercial law firms in South Africa with some 115 directors/partners and 250 qualified lawyers located at offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr lawyers specialise in services covering the complete spectrum of business legal needs in 11 core areas of practice. The firm also has dedicated sector-led teams consisting of lawyers with experience in a wide range of industries and the public sector.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is the South African member firm of DLA Piper Group, an alliance of legal practices, which includes firms with offices around the globe that are affiliated to members of the DLA Piper Practice but are not themselves members of it.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's Africa practice, in conjunction with DLA Piper Africa Group, is unrivalled in terms of pan-African legal services and geographical coverage.

DLA Piper is an international legal practice with over 3,500 lawyers located in 30 countries and 69 offices throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US.

For further information, please visit www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com