Lerato Thahane Bio

A skilled negotiator who works extremely hard, Lerato’s approach to M&A transactions is to work within the confines of the law to unlock value while minimising risk. When the deal is done, the client should feel that the transaction is sound and value for money, and that their legal team did everything they could to make a success of it. In 12 years as an M&A lawyer, Lerato has advised private and public companies on domestic and cross-border acquisitions and disposals, empowerment transactions, general corporate matters, commercial matters, group restructurings and unbundling of shareholders. A number of these have been distressed transactions, which Lerato is passionate about for their transformative potential to turn companies around and save jobs. In these scenarios, time is always of the essence and the solutions involve thinking out of the box to navigate the challenges. She finds it exciting to see how the work she does can make a difference to people and companies. Whether advising in distressed or non-distressed transactions, Lerato is usually approached early on in the M&A lifecycle. She and her team assist with the legal due diligence, draft the transaction documents and negotiate until they achieve the best outcome for the client. M&A negotiations can be exacting when the other parties have differing perspectives on what the desired outcome should be, and this is where her work ethic and resilience show their value. A generalist, Lerato has consciously chosen not to work in specific sectors as her focus is on working on the largest, most complex and most transformative M&A deals, in whatever sector they are. This focus includes cross-border transactions for ingoing or outgoing clients. Lerato was short listed in 2021 as The African Legal Awards Partner of the Year, and was recognised as one of the Mail & Guardian top 200 Young South Africans to look out for in 2021.