Mr Christo Els > Webber Wentzel > Johannesburg, South Africa > Lawyer Profile

Webber Wentzel
90 RIVONIA ROAD, SANDTON
JOHANNESBURG 2196,
PO BOX 61771, MARSHALLTOWN 2107
South Africa
Christo Els photo

Position

Partner

Career

Christo specialises in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate finance, equity capital markets and securities regulation law. He has advised on a number of large, transformational and cross-border transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa. His matters include advising on the African aspects of AB InBev’s take-over of SABMiller; the unbundling of Naspers’ international internet assets into a Dutch listed controlled company named Prosus; Woolworths’ ZAR 23 billion takeover of David Jones in Australia; Mercer Africa’s acquisition of a 34% interest in the Alexander Forbes Group; Walmart’s purchase of a majority stake in Massmart; Vodafone’s acquisition of a majority interest in Vodacom; and Gutsche Family Investments on the creation of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa. Other complex deals include advising Al Noor Hospitals Group Plc on the combination of Al Noor and Mediclinic International Ltd; Oceana Group on the acquisition of Daybrook Fisheries in the USA; Tsogo Sun in respect of the ZAR 11 billion disposal by SABMiller plc of its 39.6% stake in Tsogo Sun; and the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China in respect of its ZAR 37 billion acquisition of 20% of Standard Bank. He has advised on a number of listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, including the listings of AB InBev (ZAR 3 trillion secondary inward listing), Ethos Capital, Life Healthcare, Mondi, Mpact and Vodacom Group.​

Education

Programme in Leading Professional Service Firms, Harvard Business School, 2008
LLM (Tax) (cum laude), University of South Africa, 2001
LLB (magna cum laude), University of Pretoria, 1995
BLC (cum laude), University of Pretoria, 1993
Admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa

Lawyer Rankings

South Africa > Commercial, corporate and M&A

(Hall of Fame)

Christo ElsWebber Wentzel

Webber Wentzel‘s corporate team garners praise for its ‘in-depth understanding‘, and has a strong offering in transactional and advisory corporate matters. BEE transactions are prominent in practice head Safiyya Patel‘s workload, and Gareth Driver is well known for handling securities, corporate finance, joint ventures and corporate governance work. Firm managing partner Sally Hutton is sought after for her private equity expertise, and Jesse Watson is a key contact for consumer and retail sector clients for equity capital markets and securities regulatory matters. Christo Els is highly regarded for his strength in handling large-scale, cross-border transactions across sub-Saharan Africa.