Transactional
Cross-border transactions
We advise South African businesses doing business abroad, and international parties doing business with South Africa.
Overview
A growing share of the transactions we advise on involve more than one jurisdiction. Our transaction work has included Zambia, the DRC, the United Kingdom, Europe, the UAE and the United States.
Cross-border work adds layers of risk: different legal systems, currencies, regulators and enforcement realities. We help clients choose the right structure and governing law, allocate cross-border risk clearly, and anticipate how disputes would be resolved.
Where local law advice is required in another jurisdiction, we coordinate with advisers in that jurisdiction so that the client receives one joined-up piece of advice.
Services
What the work involves
Multi-jurisdictional structuring
We advise on corporate structures that span more than one country, including the formation of entities abroad, group restructurings with offshore elements, and the constitutional documents and shareholder arrangements for each entity. We take into account where the business operates, where its customers and assets are, and where profits are earned, and coordinate with tax and local advisers so that the structure works in each jurisdiction.
Cross-border supply and distribution
We draft and negotiate international supply, distribution, OEM and private label agreements, including territory rights, product liability, regulatory compliance and trade regulation requirements. We pay particular attention to the allocation of import, export and regulatory responsibilities between the parties.
Licensing, data and technology
We advise on cross-border licences of intellectual property, software and data, including field-of-use restrictions, commercialisation rights, data governance and pilot arrangements with international partners. We make sure the client's rights in what it contributes, and in what is developed together, are clearly defined from the start.
Trade finance
We advise on letters of credit and other trade finance instruments, including UCP 600 compliance and draw conditions, and on the commercial contracts that sit behind them. We review the letter of credit and the sale contract together, so that the documents required for payment can actually be produced on time.
Cross-border investment and project transactions
We advise on investment and project transactions with a cross-border element, including investment structuring, project finance documentation and multi-jurisdictional service agreements. We coordinate the documentation across the jurisdictions involved so that the transaction operates as one.
Governing law, risk allocation and dispute mechanisms
We advise on the choice of governing law and forum, arbitration clauses and the allocation of currency, regulatory and performance risk between parties in different jurisdictions. These provisions are often left to the end of a negotiation, yet they determine what happens when something goes wrong. We give them proper attention from the outset.
Cross-border due diligence
We conduct commercial due diligence on foreign counterparties and suppliers, covering corporate standing, capacity and contractual risk, before a client commits to a relationship. The findings help the client decide whether to proceed and what protections to ask for.
Who we work with
South African companies expanding, selling or sourcing abroad; foreign companies contracting with South African parties; and private clients with assets or structures in more than one country.
How we work
One point of contact
We coordinate the advice across jurisdictions so that the client has one adviser accountable for the whole.
Risk mapped early
We identify jurisdiction-specific risks at the start, before positions are fixed.
A realistic enforcement view
We consider how the agreement would actually be enforced, not only what it says.
Common questions
Do you give advice on the law of other countries?
Our advice is on South African law and on the commercial structure of the transaction. Where foreign law advice is needed, we coordinate with advisers qualified in that jurisdiction.
Technically sound. Commercially minded.
Advice that begins with technical precision and extends to the commercial and strategic judgement that founders, owners and executives rely on.