Mandate Letters - Practical Application

The European type mandate letters in leveraged acquisition finance transactions are becoming more common-place in the South African market. This is a positive development in our market. In a complicated or sizeable acquisition finance transaction there are many issues that may arise between the arrangers and underwriters of the debt on the one hand and the borrower on the other hand that should ideally be clarified prior to commencement of the drafting and negotiation of the formal legal agreements. Certain of the provisions of the mandate letter will also survive the execution of the formal legal agreements and will remain highly relevant especially where there is a syndication of the facilities. In this article we consider some of the important features of a typical mandate letter in the context of a leveraged acquisition finance transaction and some of the reasons why the mandate letter is an important