Allen & Overy today announces a significant investment in its Africa platform with the launch of an office in Johannesburg, South Africa. This makes Allen & Overy the first of the global elite law firms to establish a presence on the ground in South Africa.
The Johannesburg office will comprise a team of leading South African lawyers, led by partner Lionel Shawe and Michael Duncan, one of the City of London’s leading banking lawyers and former head of A&O’s banking practice, who will be relocating to Johannesburg.
Commenting on the launch, Allen & Overy global managing partner Wim Dejonghe said: “Johannesburg has become a key hub for local and international banks, development institutions, institutional investors and funds looking at investment and finance opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Building on the success of our launch in Casablanca, Johannesburg is a continuation of our carefully targeted investment in Africa and emerging markets more generally. It offers a fantastic opportunity to take our Africa platform to the next level.”
The office will open on 20 October and it is anticipated it will grow to about 40 lawyers in 2015. At launch, Mike and Lionel will be joined by Khurshid Fazel, Lisa Botha, Sibusiso Zungu, Lindani Mthembu, and Alistair Collins. In addition, Anthony Colegrave will be joining the team later in the year.
Tim Scales, partner in A&O’s international projects, energy and infrastructure team, and head of Allen & Overy’s Africa Group, commented: “This opens an exciting new chapter for A&O’s Africa Group. Lionel, the foremost banking and finance lawyer in South Africa and Mike, one of the leading lights in A&O’s global banking practice, are a powerful combination and we are very excited by the depth, quality and energy of the wider team. This will give us a unique platform to pursue opportunities in the banking, finance, projects, energy, infrastructure and mining sectors both in South Africa and elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Tim added: “We are seeing increasing interest in Africa from clients across our global network – this is the key driver for our launch. With the opening of our office in Johannesburg, we will now be able to offer clients a seamless service across sectors, combining a global presence and specialisation with a premium local team. This also provides our team in South Africa with access to an unrivalled international platform and the opportunity to advise companies that are world leaders on some of the most significant transactions in the region.”
Source: www.allenovery.com
