SAVCA
Legal & Regulatory Briefing
28 May 2024
Speakers
Adrian Dommisse
Adrian Dommisse
Prior to establishing Dommisse Attorneys in 2009, Adrian worked with diverse law firms and financial institutions, both locally and in the UK. With roles spanning from being an attorney to an investment banker, he built up valuable experience and expertise which has enabled him to add real value to some of South Africa’s leading tech businesses including Getsmarter, Snap Scan, Yuppie Chef, WooThemes and Offerzen.
In 2022 Adrian established IP Incubator to empower clients to attract offshore funding and build global wealth, by housing their IP offshore.
The lead attorney for Yuppiechef in their sale to Mr Price Group.
Advises venture capital funds including Knife Capital and establishing Imperials’ Global (UK and SA-based) $20million venture capital fund working with Newtown Partners Advises the University of Stellenbosch and University of Cape Town technology spin-out units.
Shawn van der Meulen
Shawn van der Meulen
Shawn specialises in all aspects of competition law and has advised on merger control (with particular experience in private equity acquisitions and disposals), cartel and other prohibited practice investigations, exemption applications and compliance. He has acted for clients across various industries including agri-business, banking, beverages, chemicals, construction, FMCG, gambling, healthcare, information technology, mining, motor vehicle, printing, private equity, retail, steel and textiles. Shawn was a key member of the competition team acting for Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) in its 2016 acquisition of SABMiller, which required a number of competition filings and approvals across Africa, and in AB InBev's subsequent disposal of SABMiller's interests in Distell to the Public Investment Corporation.
Webber Wentzel was awarded the Competition and Regulatory Team of the Year award for its involvement in these matters at the 2017 Africa Legal Awards. In 2015, Shawn was responsible for competition merger notifications in three out of the four transactions nominated for the DealMakers' Private Equity Deal of the Year award, including the winning transaction (Ethos Private Equity's disposal of Plumblink (Pty) Ltd to Bidvest Ltd). Outside of South Africa, Shawn has prepared merger notifications for multi-jurisdictional African mergers to the COMESA Competition Commission, as well as competition regulators in Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Safiyya Patel
Shawn van der Meulen
Safiyya specialises in general commercial law, mergers and acquisitions and transactions related to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). Safiyya has advised on transactions relating to joint ventures, company formations and reorganisations and has worked across the mining, financial, and construction sectors. Her expertise extends to media, telecommunications, broadcasting and information technology law. She has represented a number of international clients, local enterprises and various state-owned enterprises.
Nicolette (Nicci) van Vuuren
Nicolette (Nicci) van Vuuren
Nicci specialises in employment and employee benefits law, with specific focus on pension funds. She advises and on all legal, governance and risk issues related to pension funds. She has significant experience in pension fund curatorships and investigations, due diligences, regulation, governance, and risk, drafting and negotiation of agreements and pension fund related documentation and generally providing advice to pension funds, members, employers and service providers.
Kent Davis
Kent Davis
Kent specialises in all aspects of financial regulatory law including insurance, collective investment schemes, financial markets, pension funds and anti-money laundering. He has advised numerous local and foreign financial institutions and groups on a wide range of topics including: structuring insurance arrangements, corporate restructures, solo and group governance, asset spreading requirements for insurers and pension funds, mergers and acquisitions, financial conglomerates and insurance groups, issues relating to the custody of financial assets, transfers of insurance business, the promotion of foreign funds and other financial products and instruments in South Africa, OTC derivatives, as well as compliance with South Africa's anti money-laundering and counter terrorist financing regime. He has also acted for several financial institutions in arbitrations and other regulatory disputes.
Chris Charter
Chris Charter
Chris Charter is a Director and Head of our Competition Law practice. Chris has over 20 years' specialist experience in African anti-trust and has advised numerous blue-chip South African and multinational businesses on all aspects of competition law compliance, including merger control, prohibited practice investigations, interim relief and litigation, and market inquiry work.
Chris has advised in mergers involving major South African listed companies and has advised a number of global companies in obtaining South African and African regulatory clearance in respect of multinational transactions. He and his team have extensive experience in a number of African jurisdictions including COMESA.
Lebohang Mabidikane
Lebohang Mabidikane
Lebohang Mabidikane is a Director in our Competition Law practice.
Lebohang has extensive experience in evaluating the competitive and public interest effects of mergers, conducting investigations of cartel and abuse of dominance conduct, assessing exemption applications and leading search and seizure operations. She has also provided training and commentary to other African competition regulators and provided input on the legislative framework for, and enforcement of, competition law in several other African jurisdictions. Lebohang has a deep understanding of a broad range of sectors including agriculture, aviation, healthcare, logistics, petroleum, mining, fast moving consumer goods, banking and retail. She has handled a number of complex and high-profile matters for clients in both South Africa and other African jurisdictions. Lebohang also has experience in public and municipal financial management and has advised various South African state-owned entities and litigated on behalf of municipalities.
Safeera Mayet
Safeera Mayet
Safeera is an admitted attorney and brings over two decades of providing services encompassing corporate and commercial law, financial structuring, international law, risk management, corporate finance, competition law, and company secretarial guidance. She previously held senior management roles in Tiso Group, Kagiso Tiso Holdings, Tiso Blackstar Group, Idwala Industrial Holdings and Tiso Investment Holdings. She has a track record of developing and steering legal consulting services to a diverse customer population, delivering legal and commercial guidance to manage transactions across Africa and Europe.
She has facilitated numerous M&A initiatives, redesigning internal debt and tax structures, establishing investment companies for offshore holdings, as well as negotiating and concluding new investments, disposals, and funding agreements.
She also serves as a trustee of the Tiso Foundation Charitable Trust to manage and promote programmes that support the academic and leadership development of young South Africans from underprivileged backgrounds.
She holds a BCom and LLB degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and an MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science