Overview

Mayer Brown offers practical experience, technical skills and commercial knowledge of the African market and we understand the challenges and rewards that exist in African jurisdictions. The African continent provides a wealth of opportunities both to clients seeking to expand their operations and to new entrants to these countries.

Experience

Our experience includes representing:

Angola:

  • An oil and gas producer farming into an offshore block.
  • Providers of debt financing to an SPV that leased aircraft to an oil provider.
  • Maersk Oil & Gas on various regulatory and tax issues in Angola, as well as on the purchase and disposal of participating interest regarding Angola concessions.
  • Statoil on various regulatory and tax issues in Angola.

Botswana:

  • Represented Discovery Metals Ltd in connection with the $180 million debt financing of their greenfield Boseto copper mine project.
  • Caterpillar in the $115 million sale of a mining equipment distribution and support business in South Africa and Botswana.

Recognition

Our team has received a number of accolades, being consistently ranked as a top tier team working in the African continent. 

  • Mayer Brown was recognised as Band 1 in the category "Africa-wide – Projects, Energy & Mining" for the seventh consecutive year on Chambers & Partners’ Global Guide. In the 2018 edition, the firm was also Top Ranked in particular countries, highlighting our work in Lusophone Africa (Angola and Mozambique) as well as our global footprint and local knowledge through our multijurisdictional team.

We have worked on many deals that have earned “Deal of the Year” status including the following:

  • Yaramoko Gold (Burkina Faso) – "Africa – Mining and Metals Deal of the Year 2015" IJGlobal Europe & Africa Awards
  • Endeavour Mining – African Mining Deal of the Year 2013 Project Finance Magazine
  • New Liberty gold project (Liberia)Development Funding Deal of the year 2013 Mining Journal
  • Boseto (Botswana) - African Mining Deal of the Year 2011 Project Finance Magazine
  • Kwale titanium mineral sands project (Kenya) – Development Funding Deal of the Year 2011 & 2006 Mining Journal and Africa Mining Deal of the Year 2011 Project Finance International
  • Bisha (Eritrea) – Africa Mining Deal of the Year 2009 Project Finance International
  • First Quantum Minerals (refinancing and development of African mines) – Deal of the Year 2007 Project Finance Magazine and Trade Finance Magazine

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