Bio

Christo Els specialises in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate finance, equity capital markets and securities regulation law. He has advised on a number of large, transformational and cross-border transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa. His matters include advising on the African aspects of AB InBev's take-over of SABMiller; the unbundling of Naspers' international internet assets into a Dutch listed controlled company named Prosus; Woolworths' ZAR 23 billion takeover of David Jones in Australia; Mercer Africa's acquisition of a 34% interest in the Alexander Forbes Group; Walmart's purchase of a majority stake in Massmart; Vodafone's acquisition of a majority interest in Vodacom; and Gutsche Family Investments on the creation of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa. Other complex deals include advising Al Noor Hospitals Group Plc on the combination of Al Noor and Mediclinic International Ltd; Oceana Group on the acquisition of Daybrook Fisheries in the USA; Tsogo Sun in respect of the ZAR 11 billion disposal by SABMiller plc of its 39.6% stake in Tsogo Sun; and the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China in respect of its ZAR 37 billion acquisition of 20% of Standard Bank. He has advised on a number of listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, including the listings of AB InBev (ZAR 3 trillion secondary inward listing), Ethos Capital, Life Healthcare, Mondi, Mpact and Vodacom Group.​