South Africa: M&A/Private Equity

Competition laws are being enforced in most African countries. In the past year, several new national and regional competition regulators became operational, and plans are underway for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to harmonise competition law across the continent

​​The private equity (PE) fundraising landscape, historically dynamic and competitive, has become increasingly challenging in recent years. As a number of funds compete for limited investor capital, a consistent question we get as fund formation lawyers is: 'How have successful asset manager clients secured capital in this crowded market'?

South Africa is not immune to the global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) valuation gap between the price sellers are willing to accept and that which purchasers are willing to pay. In a stretched financing market and a strained broader global economy, one solution to the valuation gap may lie in implementing a contingent value right (CVR).