Paul Coetser heads up the competition practice at Werksmans Attorneys, which is well known for assisting prominent domestic and international clients with the competition law aspects of M&A deals, competition litigation, and abuse of dominance claims. Rudolph Raath is a key name for carte; cases, while Ahmore Burger-Smidt calls upon significant regulatory expertise to advise telecoms, IT and e-commerce clients on compliance work, as well as merger approvals. Nyiko Mathebula is active on prohibited practices matters. In 2023 Petra Krusche retired, and Nkonzo Hlatshwayo and Phuti Mashalane joined the department.

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Key clients

  • American Towers Corporation
  • Astron Energy Proprietary Limited
  • Audatex Proprietary Limited
  • Bidvest Group Limited
  • Capital Appreciation Limited
  • Capitec Bank Limited
  • Cardtronics PLC
  • Choppies Enterprises
  • Computicket
  • Credit Suisse Group AG
  • Department of Trade, Industry and Competition
  • Distell Limited (now Heineken South Africa (RF) Proprietary Limited)
  • Glencore International AG
  • Imisebe Printing and Publishing Proprietary Limited
  • Investec Limited
  • Isuzu Motors Limited
  • Kansai Paint
  • Karan Beef Proprietary Limited
  • Lenmed Health
  • Macsteel Global S.A.R.L. BV
  • Mobile Telephone Networks Proprietary Limited (MTN South Africa) and MTN Group Limited
  • MultiChoice
  • Naspers Group and its subsidiaries (including Media24)
  • Nedbank Limited
  • PG Bison Proprietary Limited
  • PriceCheck Proprietary Limited
  • Samancor Chrome Limited
  • Samsung Electronics South Africa Proprietary Limited
  • Shoprite Checkers Proprietary Limited
  • Sibanye Stillwater
  • SuperSport International Proprietary Limited
  • Telkom SA SOC Limited
  • Thebe Investment Corporation Proprietary Limited
  • Thungela Operations Proprietary Limited
  • Toyota Financial Services South Africa Limited
  • Transnet
  • Vitol Holding SA
  • Vivo Energy Limited
  • Volvo Financial Services LLC
  • Vox Venture B.V.
  • Waco Africa

Work highlights

  • Advising Vitol Group on the merger approval processes for its acquisition of a 75% stake of Engen Limited across five African jurisdictions.
  • Representing Waco Africa before the Competition Tribunal in ongoing proceedings concerning the dismissal of cartel charges brought against the client.
  • Acted for SuperSport International in defending the client's contractual arrangements with Lagardère Sports, within the context of an antitrust investigation.

Lawyers

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Leading partners
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Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Paul Coetser

Other key lawyers

Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Rudolph Raath, Nyiko Mathebula, Nkonzo Hlatshwayo, Phuti Mashalane