Mahons partners Eversheds

Peter van Niekerk, senior partner, Eversheds, South Africa

The ten partner South African team advises domestic and international clients across a broad range of business sectors.

Eversheds has 50 offices in major cities across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Said Bryan Hughes, chief executive of Eversheds, "We have extremely strong and long standing relationships with many of the Mahons team, including senior partner Peter van Niekerk who was deputy chairman of our previous business in South Africa. Having a strong platform in South Africa is vital to our growth plans in the region and this is a significant addition to our global offering."

This is a further key building block in Eversheds' pan-African strategy, which will see it establish offices in the key markets of Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, and Kenya, as well as South Africa in the coming months.

Committed to the Eversheds strategy

Commenting on the announcement, Peter van Niekerk, senior partner, Eversheds in South Africa stated, "As a team we are delighted to be part of Eversheds. We are committed to the Eversheds strategy and in particular its desire to develop a significant presence across Africa, totally aligned to a truly international legal service. This will be a huge benefit to our present client base and create many opportunities for growth. Our strong existing relationships with the Eversheds team leaves us in no doubt that we share a common vision and will facilitate the rapid integration of our two businesses."

Eversheds also recently announced the launch of the Eversheds African Law Institute (EALI), creating a unique entity in the region which will allow member law firms in Africa to access training and knowledge sharing programmes while fostering commercial opportunities on a regional and international basis.

Firms in 14 countries (Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Tunisia) have so far signed up as members of EALI. The institute will enable clients and contacts to keep abreast of legal developments in Africa through regular monthly updates on legislative changes impacting business in Africa, webinars and training and will launch an African Prize for law students, as well as host an annual client-facing summit in the region.