Following the announcement in April that it had persuaded three of the top M&A lawyers in the country to join its already substantial Corporate/ M&A Practice, Webber Wentzel today announced that five banking and finance specialists have agreed to join its leading Banking & Finance Practice.

Muhammad Sader and Mike Mclaren joined the firm earlier this month, while Giles White, Shaun Browne and Tahera Cassim will join the firm in the coming months.

Mclaren moved from Bowman Gilfillan where he was a partner in the Banking & Finance Business Unit within the Corporate & Commercial Department. Sader and Browne were both partners in Baker & McKenzie's Banking & Finance team. Cassim will move from Prinsloo, Tindle & Andropoulos where she is a director while White will move from the Asian-based conglomerate, Jardine Matheson, where he has been group general counsel and a main board director for the past six years.

This follows the appointments of Gareth Driver, Huneiza Goolam and Adam Ismail as partners in the firm's Corporate/ M&A Practice last month.

Webber Wentzel’s senior partner Christo Els, says, "We are delighted to be able to welcome Giles, Muhammad, Mike, Shaun and Tahera to this key area of our business."

He explains that the appointments are the next in a series of strategic moves aimed at separating Webber Wentzel from its local competition.

White has extensive experience in international finance, including capital markets, banking and structured finance. He was previously global head of Finance & Projects and Asia managing partner of Linklaters. During his 20-year tenure with Linklaters, he was instrumental in building the firm's Banking Practice into what is now considered to be one of the premier banking practices globally.

Sader specialises in banking and corporate finance transactions. He represents clients (including all large South African banks, as well as both listed and unlisted corporates) in this arena. His experience covers a broad range of financing transactions and capital markets transactions including securitizations, structured financing matters, leveraged and acquisition finance, project and limited recourse financing and equity capital market offerings.

Mclaren specialises in all aspects of finance law, representing both lenders and sponsors in South and Sub-Saharan Africa, including secured and unsecured lending, acquisition finance, leveraged finance and commercial property financing both domestically and in cross-border transactions. His expertise extends to project and infrastructure finance, particularly in the energy and resources sectors.

Browne specialises in debt capital markets and securitisation, acquisition finance, and bilateral and syndicated lending (including preference share financing) and project finance.  He has advised lenders and arrangers, borrowers and sponsors on a broad range of financing transactions including corporate financing, project financing, trade finance, debt capital markets, securitisations, exchange traded funds and derivatives transactions.

Cassim specialises in banking and finance law with expertise in bilateral and syndicated loans, acquisition finance, preference share finance, debt restructuring and debt refinancing. Her experience extends to mergers and acquisitions, general corporate and commercial law and competition law.

Els concludes, "The development of infrastructure necessary for growth on the continent is expected to stimulate demand for finance in South Africa and further afield in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are gearing ourselves to support our clients and meet their needs in this area."