Recognised for its ‘deep technical expertise’, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg advises on secured and unsecured lending, leveraged finance, and structured trade finance across South Africa and the African continent. Department lead Phetole Modika advises on general banking, acquisition and leveraged finance, structured trade, and municipal/public finance, while Pitso Kortjaas supports domestic and international clients with finance and debt capital markets matters. Koketso Maake is notably skilled in leveraged finance, debt restructurings, acquisition finance, and syndicated lending, and further key contacts include Nyameka Nkasana and Kaoma Vokwana.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Always available and their acknowledgement of comms makes it easy to work with. Nyameko Nkasana and Pitso Kortjaas have been amazing'
- ‘What makes this practice unique is the combination of deep technical expertise and a very strong grasp of the regulatory environment.'
- ‘Among the individuals I have worked with, Pitso Kortjaas stands out as a particularly strong partner.'
- 'They are also excellent at breaking down complex legal issues into actionable advice, which makes it much easier for an in-house team to engage with internal stakeholders.'
Key clients
- FirstRand Bank Ltd
- Development Bank of Southern Africa Ltd
- Independent Institute of Education Proprietary Ltd
- Standard Chartered Bank
- The Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd
- Nedbank Ltd
Work highlights
Advised FirstRand Bank Ltd (acting through its Rand Merchant Bank division) and The Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd (acting through its Corporate and Investment Banking division) on finance and banking matters in connection to their funding of Zeda Financing Ltd.
Advised Development Bank of Southern Africa Ltd on its provision of various term loan facilities to GNI Social Housing Proprietary Ltd for purposes of funding social housing projects approved by the Gauteng Provincial Government and the Social Housing Regulatory Authority in order to combat the housing shortage in the province.
Advised the Independent Institute of Education (Proprietary Ltd on ZAR1.35bn term loan facilities made available to it by Absa Bank Ltd to fund its general corporate purposes.
Practice head
Phetole Modika
Other key lawyers
Pitso Kortjaas; Koketso Maake; Nyameka Nkasana; Kaoma Vokwana