The competition, regulation, and trade team at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP boasts an impressive offering, encompassing in particular complex prohibited practice cases and competition compliance programmes. Co-leader Jean Meijer is skilled in mergers, investigations, exemptions, and compliance matters across multiple African jurisdictions, while co-head Nick Altini has led on landmark competition cases, including those pertaining to pricing disputes, cartel settlements, and major mergers. Sandhya Foster is knowledgeable in leniency applications, Lesetja Morapi in market investigations and dawn raids, and Stewart Payne in both litigious and advisory work. Natasha Rachwal is also a notable member of the practice.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Accolades
Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Client satisfaction: Billing & efficiency
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Client satisfaction: NPS ®
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘HSF, led by Jean Meijer and supported by Stewart Payne, are unique in that they truly understand the business of their clients. HSF has shown a great deal of skills being able to apply their vast technical knowledge on competition matters and translating that into practical advice, which can only be done with a deep understanding of the business.’
- ‘Excellent expertise with a multitude of focus and practice areas. Outstanding quality of resources appointed to a matter.’
- ‘The team is diverse, with team members complementing each other's skill sets in a way that enables the team to work collaboratively and seamlessly. The turnaround time of the team is always quick but the work is always of exceptional quality. There is mutual respect amongst the team members which makes the entire team a pleasure to work with.'
- ‘They listen to our needs, understand our business and partner effectively with our internal legal teams for the best outcome. They assist with our insurers queries.'
- ‘The work product is of a high quality, and they brainstorm well with our internal legal teams. They communicate effectively and efficiently and keep us informed of every step. They are a pleasure to work with and collaborate with us very well.'
- ‘Jean Meijer provides strong legal advice and her competency shows by the deftness by which she is able to draw on her considerable experience and provide succinct, to-the-point answers.'
Key clients
- MultiChoice Group Limited
- Sun International Limited
- The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited
- Liberty Group Limited
- Liberty 2 Degrees
- Stanlib
- Uber and Uber Eats
- SPAR Group Limited
- ArcelorMittal South Africa
- Anglo American plc
- Associated British Foods
- Illovo Sugar South Africa
Work highlights
Acting for MultiChoice Group Limited in respect of the mandatory public takeover offer made by Canal+ to acquire the shares in MultiChoice not currently held by Canal+.
Acted for Sun International in its proposed ZAR7.3bn acquisition of Peermont. They are two of the three casino operating groups in South Africa.
Acting for Standard Bank in its defence of a complaint by the Competition Commission alleging that multiple local and international banks engaged in price fixing and market division in USD/ZAR forex trading.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
Jean Meijer; Nick Altini
Other key lawyers
Sandhya Foster; Lesetja Morapi; Stewart Payne; Natasha Rachwal