Dentons has opened an office in Casablanca after raiding the Moroccan team of French firm UGGC, which has an impressive track record in the country. The office will have permanently staffed by a team of two partners (Patrick Larrivé and Christophe Simonnet) and five associates.
Larrivé was with UGGC for 14 years and will take the role of managing partner; his practice spans public-private partnerships (PPP), energy, corporate commercial and M&A. Simonnet made partner in January 2014 after six years with UGGC and focuses on corporate and M&A. Dentons joins global rivals Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Norton Rose Fulbright, Baker & McKenzie and Eversheds as well as French firms Gide Loyrette Nouel, August & Debouzy and Jeantet Associés.
ENSafrica for its part announed a merger with top tier Namibian domestic firm Lorentz Angula in order to cement its presence on the ground in the country. The merger was launched in November and marks the first foreign firm to set up in the Namibian market. ENSafrica will now run services out of two offices, the capital Windhoek and coastal town Swakopmund, with a team of 11 partners.
Namibia marks the firm's sixth office outside South Africa and sees the firm continue its spread throughout the region, albeit conquering some unlikely markets. It currently has offices in Burundi and Rwanda (both opened in August 2012), Mauritius (January 2013), Uganda (December 2013) and Namibia, in contrast to its competitor Bowman Gilfillan, which has opted for a more alliance-based system allowing it to access markets such as Kenya and Francophone Africa.