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Linklaters

Linklaters in Africa

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Linklaters has been deeply involved in Africa for over 50 years, working on numerous landmark transactions, and building vital business connections in every African country.

From our European offices including in London, Paris and Lisbon, with direct links to Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africa, as well as our Asia offices and practices (principally China, India, Korea, Singapore and Japan), the Americas (US and Brazil) and the Middle East, we have a proven track record of supporting our clients in achieving their Africa-focused strategies.

Africa by numbers

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50 years of experience in Africa; working in every African jurisdiction
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Over 200 live matters in Africa, worked on in 28 of our 31 offices
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Over 620 lawyers with substantial recent Africa experience
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US$100bn worth of deals in the past 5 years
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More rankings and more tier 1 rankings in Chambers than any other firm

Key Contacts

Our offering in Africa

Pan-African footprint

Unique in Africa - we are the only law firm with comprehensive Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone capabilities. This is crucial for clients, as understanding local customs, insights and intricacies is key when working on African matters.

Our collaborative alliance with Webber Wentzel builds on the longstanding and deep rooted relationship between the firms. We work seamlessly together to provide clients with an integrated, fit for purpose offering.

Across Africa, we have longstanding relationships with the best local firms. We work regularly as international counsel, alongside local counsel, on the largest and most innovative transactions across the whole of Africa.

Capturing investment flows

Our Africa practice comprises leading lawyers from our offices worldwide, allowing us to support investment flows into Africa from key trading partners in Asia (such as China, Japan and Korea), the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.

For each matter, we put together the most appropriate team from across our network, and we work in a co-ordinated way to provide our clients with the seamless services that they expect in order to complete their transactions across the continent.

Pan-African footprint
Innovative product offering
Industry experience
Capturing investment flows

Our Leading Deals

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Corporate / M&A

  • BHP: advising on its investment in one of the largest and highest quality development-ready nickel sulphide deposits located in the north-west of Tanzania.
  • Chalco: advising on its US$1.35bn investment in Rio Tinto’s Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.
  • Remgro Limited: advising this investment holding company on its £3.7bn Recommended Joint Cash Offer for Mediclinic International plc, a private healthcare group listed in South Africa and Namibia.
  • Unilever PLC: advising on the €4.5bn sale of the world's leading tea business - a portfolio of 34 leading brands, 11 factories and three tea estates in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.
  • De Beers Group: advising on the establishment of a joint venture company with Diacore for the purchase, manufacture, and sale of exceptional diamonds. The De Beers Group operates global mining locations in – Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
  • Fortescue Future Industries (FFI): advising on the green energy subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, on its entry into the framework agreement with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and other state entities for the study and development of multiple utility scale integrated green hydrogen and ammonia facilities in Egypt.
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Capital Markets

  • HSBC: advising The Egyptian Financial Company for Sovereign Taskeek U.S.$5,000,000,000 Trust Certificate Issuance Programme and its debut US $1.5billion issuance thereunder. This transaction is historic in that it represents the first-ever sukuk issuance by the Republic of Egypt.
  • Credit Suisse and Citi: advising on the World Bank’s Wildlife Conservation Bond the first-of-its-kind. Also known as the “Rhino Bond”, the USD150 million five-year bond issued by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
  • Helios Towers plc: a leading independent telecoms tower company in sub-Saharan Africa, on its £1.15bn initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.
  • Africa Rhino bonds: advised CSI as sole conservation bond structurer and CSI and CGML as joint bookrunners and held the pen on all bond documentation, including the prospectus and terms and conditions of the bonds. The governing law of the bonds is English law. The World Bank’s Wildlife Conservation Bond is the first-of-its-kind, outcome-based, financial instrument that channels private sector investments to achieve conservation outcomes.
  • Premier foods IPO: advising RMB, Standard Bank and the other underwriters on the proposed IPO and JSE listing of the Brait-owned company, Premier Foods. We led on all international aspects of the transaction, including due diligence, disclosure, comfort and underwriting arrangements (along with our partner firm, Webber Wentzel).
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Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations

  • An African state: acting in a US$800m ICC arbitration initiated by a contractor handling various infrastructure projects throughout the country and in setting-aside proceedings before the French courts concerning an award rendered in late 2019.
  • One of the world's largest natural resource companies: advising this company in the negotiation with a State of the Central Africa subregion of a criminal and civil settlement resolving corruption and money-laundering allegations.
  • A mining company: advising in respect of administrative and court appeals of unjustified and arbitrary tax measures taken by the tax administration of the Democratic Republic of the Congo against our client's subsidiaries and with respect to potential ICSID arbitration in relation to the same.
  • Aggreko: advising in relation to an ICC arbitration against a State-owned entity in Madagascar and the negotiation of a settlement agreement in relation thereto.
  • Finasi srl: advising an Italian turnkey provider for healthcare facilities, projects and supplies in the oil & gas sector, interiors projects and organic foods, in a successful ICC arbitration concerning a turnkey agreement with the government of the Republic of Chad for the construction of a drug manufacturing plant in the region of N’djamena.
  • The Gabonese Republic (Gabon): We are defending the Gabonese Republic (Gabon) and its public works instrumentality, L’Agence Nationale des Grands Travaux (ANGT), in litigation ENKA İnşaat Ve Sanayi A.Ş., a Turkish construction company, brought an action in the District Court of the District of Columbia to enforce a Swiss arbitration award of over US46m entered against Gabon and ANGT. The district court declared Gabon and ANGT in default for failure to plead or otherwise defend the action.
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TMT

  • Vodacom South Africa: advising on its carve-out of its mobile towers portfolio in South Africa.
  • Digital Bridge: advising on the restructuring of its portfolio company, Vantage Data Centers, on the expansion of its data centre platform in EMEA, including in South Africa.
  • Africa's largest mobile network operator: advising on its proposal to carve-out and sell its portfolio of data centres across South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Kenya.
  • MTN: advising on the development of the 2Africa subsea cable consortium led by Meta.
  • Sumitomo Corporation: advising on a joint venture involving Vodafone, Safaricom, Vodacom and CDC in connection with the historic bid for and successful implementation of the new telecom license granted by the Government of Ethiopia to set up a greenfield private telecom operator.
  • The Area 4 consortium: advising Eni and ExxonMobilon the development of a subsea cable in the context of its offshore activities in Mozambique.
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Banking and Finance

  • Helios Towers PLC: advising on its US$470m acquisition financing for the acquisition of 2,519 telecommunications towers in Oman from Omantel.
  • Cell C Limited: advising the secured creditors on the restructuring. of approximately ZAR 7.3bn of debt for leading mobile provider in South Africa. 
  • Airtel Networks Limited: advising Bank of America NA, Hong Kong Branch on 3 year US$100m term loan facility to Airtel Networks Limited as guaranteed by Bharti Airtel International Netherlands BV.
  • SACE S.p.A. and SIMEST S.p.A.: advising on certain amendments to the €154m SACE covered Facility Agreement, entered into with the Republic of Cameroon represented by the Minister of Economy. Gold Fields Limited: advising one of world's largest gold mining companies on their US$1.2bn sustainability-linked revolving credit facility.
  • Steinhoff International Holdings N.V., Steinhoff Europe AG, Steinhoff Finance Holding GmbH: advising on the €10bn restructuring of part of its Holdco debt implemented pursuant to two parallel English Law company voluntary arrangements.
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