In a bold move that will set it apart from its local competitors, leading South African law firm Webber Wentzel has persuaded three of the top M&A lawyers in the country to join its already substantial Corporate/ M&A Practice.

With effect from 1 May this year, Gareth Driver and Huneiza Goolam will join the firm's Johannesburg team, while Adam Ismail will join its Cape Town team.

Driver previously headed the Commercial Department and the Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions Practice at Werksmans Attorneys, while Goolam had been a director in that team for eight years. Prior to joining Webber Wentzel, Ismail had been a partner in the Commercial Department at ENSAfrica for over a decade.

Webber Wentzel’s senior partner Christo Els, says, "We are excited to welcome lawyers of this stature to our team."

He explains that the appointments are the next in a series of strategic moves aimed at cementing Webber Wentzel's position as the dominant South African law firm.

He cites the appointment of Mark Phillips and Johan Brink to the firm's Corporate/ M&A Practice as well as Brian Dennehy's return to the firm's Tax Practice as earlier examples. Phillips was a founding director of boutique corporate and commercial law firm Read Hope Phillips, while Brink was one of the founding partners of leading commercial law firm, Brink Cohen le Roux Inc. Dennehy, who specialises in the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, returned to the firm from Standard Bank CIB in January.

Driver specialises in corporate law and commercial transactions, predominantly mergers and acquisitions. He has advised on a wide range of deals including black economic empowerment and international transactions and has in-depth experience of the financial services and mining sectors. His expertise extends to financial services regulation, corporate finance and structuring, private equity, leveraged and management buy-outs, securities law, listings/ flotations, public offerings and private placements, exchange control and corporate governance. He has a BA, LLB and LLM degrees (all awarded with distinction) from the University of Witwatersrand.

Goolam specialises in mergers and acquisitions, including black economic empowerment as well as international transactions, across a number of sectors including financial services, mining and energy and natural resources. Her expertise extends to corporate finance and structuring, listings/ flotations, leveraged and management buy-outs, private equity, as well as public offerings and private placements. She is also well versed in South African mining law, financial services regulation and corporate governance.

Ismail specialises in mergers and acquisitions and has advised various foreign multinationals on their investments into South Africa and the rest of Africa. He has extensive experience in black economic empowerment as well as the establishment of employee share incentive schemes and broad-based ownership schemes. His expertise extends to drafting commercial transaction agreements and advising on the Companies Act of 2008, the JSE Listings Requirements and the Take Over Regulations. He has been recognised as a leading lawyer by various international rankings organisations including Chambers Global and IFLR500.  Ismail has BA and LLB degrees from the University of Cape Town.

Els concludes, "Investor confidence in the pan-African FMCG sector is clearly on an upswing and is likely to provide the impetus for what looks to be another big year in M&A. We also anticipate that M&A activity in the coming years will focus on the drive by global companies and private equity funds to grow their footprints in Africa. With these additions to our team, we believe that Webber Wentzel will be the best positioned to serve this growing market segment."