Nick Altini
Nick has twenty years of experience in legal practice. He has previously been the department head for competition law at one of South Africa's leading national law firms, and in the Johannesburg office of a global business law firm.
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
More informationThe ‘extremely commercial, strategic and intelligent’ team at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP is led by the ‘strong’ Jean Meijer, who garners praise for her ‘exceptional knowledge of competition law’. The competition, regulation and trade practice has been kept busy handling abuse of dominance claims, high-profile market inquiries, cartel investigations and merger control matters. Nick Altini stands out for his expertise in representing clients in the full range of competition law issues, and has advised on high-profile cases involving discriminatory and predatory pricing matters, contested mergers and cartel investigations. Sandhya Foster and Stewart Payne are key names to note. Leana Engelbrecht left the firm in January 2024.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team's advice is always practical and of enormous value to a business, because of their ability to quickly grasp the issues, understand the business and what outcome the business is looking to achieve. They do not over complicate matters with legal jargon but rather find commercial, workable solutions to suit the business and achieve the required outcome. They continually keep clients updated on current competition matters in a practical, informative way which is easy to understand.'
‘Jean Meijer is highly intelligent, strategic, commercial and practical. She is able to quickly understand what a business requires and give advice which is implementable and understandable. Sandhya Foster is extremely commercial, intelligent and practical.'
‘The team is highly experienced and well connected.'
‘Both Jean and Sandhya are fantastic-they are always professional and a real asset in any negotiation/transaction.'
‘This team is top drawer with a superior knowledge of competition law and how best to use that knowledge as an inter-play with the competition authorities. This team also has an innate ability to find practical solutions to complex legal issues.'
‘Nick Altini is one of the best competition lawyers in the country. He has a profound knowledge of the law and an exceptional skill at applying that knowledge in practice, delivering outstanding results for his clients.'
‘Jean Meijer and her team are on the ball, organised, anticipate strategic moves and are always well prepared. If a client is looking for a team that will crystalise complex issues and make it palatable and defensible - this is the team!’
‘The Herbert Smith Freehills South Africa LLP competition team are subject matter experts with a proven track record of delivering with excellence. The team is very solutions oriented and straight to the point, which is highly appreciated in our field given the fast turnaround required to make decisions.'
‘Stewart Payne is exceptional. He is very solutions oriented, very responsive and always readily available when required.'
Key clients
- Associated British Foods (including subsidiaries, Illovo Sugar South African and Zambia Sugar)
- Air Products South Africa Proprietary Limited
- Airlink
- Harmony Gold
- IHS Holdings
- Life Healthcare Group Limited
- Naspers Group operating companies (AutoTrader, Mr D, OLX South Africa, Property24 and Takealot.com)
- Rain
- The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (including subsidiaries Liberty Life, Liberty 2 Degrees and Stanlib)
- Uber Portier B.V. and Uber Eats South Africa Proprietary Limited
- Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners
- Stanlib
Work highlights
- Successfully defended I&J against allegations of cartel conduct before the Competition Tribunal and in an appeal heard before the Competition Appeal Court, brought against the client by the Competition Commission.
- Acting for a number of South African digital companies, including e-commerce retailer, Takealot.com, and food delivery service, MrD, in the ongoing OIPMI inquiry.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Jean Meijer
Jean is a competition partner with over 25 years' experience and is Co-Head of the Herbert Smith Freehills Africa Practice and the Managing Partner of the Herbert Smith Freehills Johannesburg office.
Jean works with clients on all aspects of competition law, including merger control, cartel and other prohibited practice investigations, exemption applications and competition compliance. She has knowledge of the competition laws of many African countries and regularly helps clients with multi-jurisdictional African mergers.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Jean Meijer