The Mergermarket Third Quarter 2011 legal adviser league table shows that business law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr has climbed eight places from Q1-Q3 2010 to be the domestic champion in Q1-Q3 2011, having advised on three of the top five South African deals so far this year. The value of deals completed by Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s M&A team amounted to US$ 8,216 billion (around R 65 billion). The firm was also first by deal volume, having completed 19 deals in Q1-Q3 2011.
Quintin Honey, Director in the Corporate and Commercial practice, notes, “One of the deals involves the firm advising Metorex Ltd (listed on the JSE but with its main mining operations outside South Africa, in the DRC and Zambia) in respect of offers to acquire all of the issued shares of Metorex, first by Brazilian company Vale and subsequently Chinese company Jinchuan, by way of a scheme of arrangement under the new Companies Act, 2008.”
The other two big deals the firm advised on were the acquisition of the V & A Waterfront by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Growthpoint Properties Limited and the acquisition by Johannesburg-based Steinhoff of French furniture company Conforama, each involving acquisitions from foreign owners.
“These deals could point towards opportunities for South Africa arising out of the global debt crisis, especially when one considers the imperative for emerging market companies to look to other markets that promise more growth (such as Africa, via South Africa) or to avail themselves of opportunities that may offer value (such as acquisitions from foreign owners),” Honey says.
Brent Williams, CEO of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, led the team that advised the PIC on the acquisition by the PIC and Growthpoint Properties of the V & A Waterfront from its erstwhile foreign owners.
In terms of trends in M&A, Williams explains that in the short to medium term, the big M&A deals will largely be in the mining, energy resources and renewable energy sectors, and almost exclusively targeting African potential and reserves, and renewable energy opportunities.
“It is well known that China and India are amongst the fastest growing economies in the world with (presently) insatiable appetites for mining and energy resources. Foreign investors all want to get in on the Africa-China-India play and the massive growth potential that that holds and in addition the South African government’s renewable energy program that is just getting off the ground.
“The good news is that China and India are so interested in making acquisitions in Africa that it might to some extent protect us from the impact of another (double dip) global recession,” Williams adds.
