Willem Jacobs

Willem Jacobs is a director and National Head of our Corporate and Commercial practice. Willem’s areas of expertise are corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, private equity, black economic empowerment transactions, formation, structuring and restructuring of business entities, and general commercial agreements. Willem began his career as a candidate attorney at Cliffe Dekker and Todd (now Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr) in 1995. Willem was appointed as an associate in 1997, promoted to senior associate in 1998 and became a director in 1999.

• 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