DLA Piper appoints two new directors to Johannesburg office

DLA Piper announces the appointment of two Directors to its Johannesburg office. At van der Merwe, joined the firm’s Finance, Projects & Restructuring (FP&R) practice on 1 December 2023 and Jonathan Singh, joined the Corporate practice on 1 January 2024.

At joined from Rand Merchant Bank where he has been a legal advisor in the leveraged finance/sponsor solutions team since 2020. Prior to that he spent more than 10 years at a leading international law firm in South Africa. An experienced and respected lawyer in his field, At advises clients on legal and transactional specific matters in respect of a broad range of financing transactions, including syndicated debt restructuring, general corporate financing, acquisition and fund financing. He will play a key role in the growth and expansion of the South Africa leveraged finance practice, adding specialist sector capability in the financial services, consumer goods, food & retail, industrials and media, sports & entertainment sectors.

Jonathan is a specialist in complex cross border private and public mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, corporate reorganisations and corporate governance matters. He joined the firm from the Johannesburg Bar and prior to that a leading South African law firm. Jonathan brings expertise in the financial services, industrials, technology, mining and energy sectors.

Johannes Gouws, Managing Partner for DLA Piper in South Africa, said: “Our recent hires demonstrate our commitment to expanding strategically while focusing on our clients. At and Jonathan are valuable additions to our FP&R and Corporate teams, helping us meet growing client demands in these areas.”

To advance its ambitious growth strategy in South Africa, DLA Piper has made several significant appointments over the past year. These include the appointment of directors Nick Grootes in FP&R, Charles Smith in Corporate and Megan Sturgeon in Litigation & Regulatory. The firm has also added four new associates across the Corporate, Finance, Projects & Restructuring, and Litigation & Regulatory practices and three associates have been promoted to senior associates within the Corporate and Employment teams.