Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance wins International Law Firm of the Year at African Legal Awards

Clifford Chance has won International Law Firm of the Year at the African Legal Awards 2013 held in South Africa on 24 October.

The inaugural awards were hosted by Legal Week, organisers of The British Legal Awards, in association with the Corporate Lawyers Association of South Africa (CLASA). Clifford Chance demonstrated its position as a leading law firm in the African market and one that has made significant progress across the continent over the past 12 to 18 months.

Anthony Giustini, co-head of Clifford Chance's Africa practice, said: "This award recognises the efforts of hundreds of our lawyers who have contributed to the breadth and depth of the firm's Africa practice as well as our continuing emphasis on social responsibility and development of the legal profession across the African continent."

Last month, the firm launched the Clifford Chance Africa Academy, a structured training programme specifically for African counsel with the first course for junior associates held in Lagos, Nigeria. The second course is scheduled for the beginning of December in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

The firm's key Africa-related achievements include:

• Opening the firm's first office on the African continent in Casablanca in early 2012
• Hosting its inaugural African Counsel Retreat in July 2013 where 80 lawyers from 60 law firms across 30 countries convened for two days to strengthen ties as well as discuss legal and management issues
• Contributing to the development of the legal profession in Africa through a 'social responsibility' programme of community-based initiatives, legal education and knowledge exchange
• Participating regularly in thought leadership events such as the Financial Crisis Summit led by Olaniwun Ajayi and the Central Bank of Nigeria
• Securing a steady deal flow in the region including:
• Advising QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the State of Qatar and the MENA region, on the acquisition of Société Générale’s 77.17% stake in National Société Générale Bank – Egypt (NSGB)
• Advising Nigeria's largest bank, Zenith Bank plc on its successful technical listing of global depositary receipts (GDRs) representing interests in its ordinary shares
• Advising South African rail, port and pipeline operator Transnet SOC Ltd on its debut international capital markets offering of US$1,000,000,000 4% senior notes due 2020
• Advising Carlyle on its first investment by its Sub-Saharan Africa Fund consisting of the acquisition of a minority stake in ETG – the largest private equity deal in Africa in 2012
• Advising the lenders in relation to the financing of the conversion of the Ciprel power plant into combined cycle in Côte d'Ivoire
• Advising Wilmar International, Asia's leading agribusiness group, in its purchase from Société Nationale d'Investissement of a 27.5% equity stake in Cosumar, a company listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and third largest producer of sugar in Africa.
• Advising Dangote Industries Limited, as borrower, on a USD 3.30 billion financing. The proceeds of the financing will be used for the planning, development and construction of a greenfield fertilizer manufacturing plant and a greenfield crude oil refinery plant. It will be the largest industrial complex project in the history of Nigeria.