Willem Jacobs

Willem Jacobs is a Director in our Corporate & Commercial practice. Willem led the Corporate and Commercial team for 11 years before stepping down to focus on the day to day running of his practice. He also serves on the firm's Executive, Finance and Compensation Committees. As evidenced through market recognition, Willem is regarded as one of South Africa's foremost M&A specialists. His areas of expertise are mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, private equity, black economic empowerment transactions, and structuring and restructuring of businesses.

• Advised Steinhoff International Holdings on a scheme of arrangement in terms of which Genesis International Holdings N.V. (renamed Steinhoff International Holdings N.V.) acquired the entire issued share capital of Steinhoff International Holdings in a share-for-share transaction, and on the subsequent listing of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. on the Frankfurt and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges;
• Acted for Tiso Blackstar, a media, broadcast and retail marketing group; advising this client in respect of the disposal of its 22.9 per cent shareholding in Kagiso Tiso. This deal structure is innovative and we are not aware of any other public transaction that has been implemented on a similar construct.

• Capital markets: Equity
• M&A
• Private equity

• Consumer goods and services
• Financial services
• Food and beverage
• Media
• Tech and telecoms

• Law Society of the Northern Provinces

• BCom Law, LLB, Dip (Insolvency), HDip (Tax), University of Johannesburg
• Year of admission as an attorney: 1997