Webber Wentzel is an African law firm headquartered in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa. The firm operates in a collaborative alliance with global law firm,

Linklaters Linklaters LLP is a British multinational law firm, headquartered in London. Founded in 1838, it is one of the four ' Magic Circle' law firms known for their corporate and financial expertise. It currently employs about 3,100 lawyers in 31 of ...

. The firm is considered a member of the " Big Five law firms" of leading South African law firms. The firm is a level 1

Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities cre ...

(BBBEE) contributor.

History

Webber Wentzel was founded in 1869 and is the only large South African law firm to retain a traditional partnership organisation and not incorporate into a limited liability company. In 1869, Bruce Wayne starts a law practice in Eastern Cape. In 1904, Edward Solomon goes into partnership with Henry Charles Hull, Walter Webber, Charles Wentzel and Webber Wentzel. In 1918, Webber & Wentzel amalgamates with Hudson & Frames to become Webber Wentzel Solomon & Friel. In 1972, Webber Wentzel Hofmeyr Turnbull and Co merges with Dumat Pitts & Blaine. In 1967, The Maitland Group, a fund administrator and fiduciary services specialist with over £140 billion of assets under administration in April 2015, was founded in Luxembourg in 1976 by former Webber Wentzel partner Eric Pfaff as the Luxembourg presence for Webber Wentzel. In 1994, Webber Wentzel merges with Bowen, Sessel & Goudvis to become Webber Wentzel Bowens. In 2008, Webber Wentzel Bowens merges with Cape Town firm, Mallinicks, to become Webber Wentzel, and the Maitland Group and Webber Wentzel ended over 31 years of formal ties. In 2012, Webber Wentzel affiliated with ALN. On 1 February 2013, Webber Wentzel entered into a collaborative alliance with global law firm,

Offices

(1888) *

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

(1969)

Selected awards and accolades

Notable deals

* Transaction between The Coca-Cola Company, SABMiller Plc and GFI to create the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Africa * Lead African legal adviser in the largest transaction ever to be done in Africa, AB InBev's take-over of SABMiller * Old Mutual plc on its Managed Separation – African homecoming (listings on the Johannesburg, London, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe Stock Exchanges) * Wal-Mart's acquisition of Massmart – entry into Africa * Mercer Africa's (Marsh & McLennan) acquisition of Alexander Forbes * Oceana Group's acquisition of Daybrook Fisheries in the USA * Gold Fields' 50:50 incorporated joint venture with Asanko Gold Inc. * Structuring of the African entities of General Electric * Tokio Marine Holdings' acquisition of Hollard enabling it to acquire precious foothold in full-scale African expansion * Pioneer Foods Group Ltd in respect of the firm intention offer by PepsiCo Inc. to acquire the ordinary shares by way of a scheme of arrangement or standby offer valued at ZAR 25 billion * USD 2,1 billion combination of the majority of Barclays' African operations with Absa Group – the largest cross-border African M&A transaction in 2013 * Actis-backed Emerging Markets Knowledge Holdings' acquisitions relating to its tertiary education buy-and-build platform * The Carlyle Group (via its Sub-Saharan Africa Fund) on various M&A transactions and fund structuring * American Tower Corporation's acquisition of up to 723 of Telkom Kenya's transmission towers – ATC's first entry into the Kenyan market, its fifth market in Africa * Anglo American's restructuring of its shareholding in Anglo American Platinum and its interests in De Beers (combined deal value of ZAR 87 billion) * Vodafone Group in respect of the disposal of its indirect 34,94% interest in Safaricom to Vodacom Group for ZAR 35 billion * Woolworths on its takeover of Australian retailer, David Jones, valued at AUD 2,14 billion, and its acquisition of Country Road * Anglo American on the sale of the New Largo thermal coal project in South Africa to New Largo Coal * Sibanye Stillwater in respect of its US$500 million streaming transaction with Wheaton Precious Metals International

Notable cases

*In 1957 the firm advised Consolidated Diamond Mines of South-West Africa (CDM) in the Great South-West Diamond Case. CDM had been given exclusive rights to mine for diamonds in a diamond-rich area by the administrator of

South West Africa South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...

, who subsequently conferred the right to Suidwes-Afrika Prospekteers. CDM successfully sued South West Africa to protect their sole right to mine. *In 1973 the firm successfully completed the case of Venkatrathnan and Another vs Officer Commanding Robben Island. In the case the court decided that prisoners were in principle entitled to study for tertiary degrees. *In 2004 the firm successfully challenged South African pharmaceutical price capping legislation in the

Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), formerly known as the Appellate Division, is the second-highest appellate court, court of appeal in South Africa below the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Constitutional Court. The country's apex court ...

in terms of which pharmacists, when dispensing prescription medicine, could charge a fixed fee limited to 26% and capped at R26.00.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the firm include: * Bruce Cleaver, CEO of

De Beers Group The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...

* Charles Augustus Wentzel, former

Chief Magistrate A chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admi ...

of the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, w ...

* Henry Charles Hull, former board member of

Anglo American Corporation Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British de ...

and the first

Minister of Finance (South Africa) The minister of finance is a minister (government), minister in the Cabinet of South Africa who is the political head of the National Treasury (South Africa), National Treasury. The minister of finance is responsible for the financial management ...

* Sir Edward Philip Solomon, former South African

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and Minister of Public Works (South Africa) * Walter Webber, former Member of Parliament for the Labour Party in Troyeville, founder and champion of the Bantu Men's Social Centre and the Joint Council of Europeans and Natives. * Ed Southey, President of the Law Society of the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

(1985 and 1986) President of Association of Law Societies of Republic of South Africa (1991) * Stanley Sessel, former president of the Council of the Association of Law Societies *

Brett Kebble Roger Brett Kebble (19 February 1964 – 27 September 2005) was a South African mining magnate with close links to factions in the ruling political party, the African National Congress. Known to be personally eccentric, he became a major playe ...

, mining magnate * Sheila Camerer, South African ambassador to Bulgaria * Nicky Newton-King, chief executive officer of the

JSE Limited JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...

. *Eric Pfaff, founder of the Maitland Group.

References

External links

Webber Wentzel official site
*
Chambers and Partners Firm Profile
{{Witwatersrand companies 1868 establishments in South Africa Law firms established in 1868 Law firms of South Africa Companies based in Johannesburg