Sally Hutton (Webber Wentzel)
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A private equity M&A specialist and Managing Partner at Webber Wentzel, Sally Hutton’s career spans nearly 30 years. Recognised in the market as an exceptional private equity M&A lawyer and an outstanding leader, Sally has played a pivotal role in building the firm’s private equity capabilities over decades.
Sally holds a BA and LLB, both awarded with distinction from the University of Cape Town, an LLM – also with distinction – from the University of the Witwatersrand, and a Master of Studies (Legal Research) from the University of Oxford. In 2012, she completed an executive education programme on Leading Professional Services Firms at Harvard Business School.
DealMaker of the Year
When she was appointed managing partner of Webber Wentzel in 2014, Sally became the first woman to be elected a senior leader of a major South African law firm. She has led by personal example, instilling a culture of dealmaking excellence at the firm, with her relentless focus on finding win-win solutions and consistently delivering the best possible outcome for her clients. She is an important female role model in the Corporate M&A space and, more broadly, in the legal community, and during her tenure, she has spearheaded the firm’s gender equity initiatives, formulating a multipronged gender strategy which she has driven to address the high attrition rate of women in more senior levels.
During 2024 alone, Sally led the team on three of the four shortlisted deals for the Catalyst Private Equity Deal of the Year. She advised Actis on its acquisition of Swiftnet from Telkom (R6,75bn), Alterra Capital and its consortium partners in relation to the acquisition of the Chill Beverages Group from Old Mutual Private Equity, and Actis on its disposal of Octotel and RSAWeb to African Infrastructure Investment Managers and its consortium partners.
Other high-profile transactions on which she led this year included the disposal by Crossfin and shareholders of their investment in Adumo to Lesaka Technologies (a dual listed company on the Nasdaq and JSE for R1,59bn); Advent International’s acquisition of Syspro SA (alongside Weil Gotshal); the acquisition by Austell of 100% of the shares in Spanish company Noventure S.L. and certain intellectual property from the sellers; and the disposal by Ninety-One Africa Private Equity Fund 2 GP to a management-led consortium of Growth Ten – the holding company of Richfield, and AAA School of Advertising.
Sally Hutton
Of Sally, one client says, “She is well known in the market and has the necessary experience, skills and gravitas to get a deal across the line. In my experience with Sally, she is both pragmatic (solution orientated) and aggressive (wins the points that need to be won).”
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She is also held in high regard by those who work with her: “Sally has consistently demonstrated exceptional acumen and leadership in all the transactions we’ve had the privilege of working alongside her on. She has the ability to help clients navigate complex transactions with precision and insight. Her dedication to excellence and her unwavering commitment to her clients have set her apart as a distinguished legal adviser, especially in relation to private equity transactions in the South African market.”
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Sally is revered for her strategic foresight, astute judgement, commitment to excellence and exemplary work ethic
DealMakers - 2024 Annual
Comment from the Independent Panel: Sally is an exceptional legal adviser whose role in many private equity transactions over the years, and particularly in 2024, differentiated her from a strong field
The leading candidates (in no particular order)
Ezra Davids (Bowmans)
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As Chairman and Senior Partner at Bowmans, Ezra Davids is a key partner in the firm’s M&A practice and is widely recognised as one of South Africa’s leading corporate lawyers. Except for a stint in London, where he gained an appreciation of the globalised nature of business, his 25-year law career has been spent entirely at Bowmans.
He specialises in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and securities law, and has advised on some of the largest and most significant M&A transactions on the African continent; among them, the 2015 acquisition of SABMiller by Anheuser-Busch InBev in a US$107bn transaction.
His initial motivation for pursuing the law was the desire to be a human rights lawyer. His plans changed after the unbanning of political parties and the release of Nelson Mandela, when it became obvious to him that the next ‘terrain of battle’ would be in the corporate, commercial and financial field.
Krishna Nagar (Rand Merchant Bank)
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Krishna Nagar joined RMB Corporate Finance in 2006 and is currently the head of the business. Prior to joining RMB, he worked at Alexander Forbes and Towers Watson South Africa (previously Fifth Quadrant Actuaries & Consultants).
Krishna has a longstanding track record of originating and executing high-profile transactions in South Africa. During 2024, he led several market-leading transactions – most notably, a highly complex public markets transaction, advising the Barloworld Independent Board on the strategies and tactics for maximising shareholder value, following the unsolicited approach by a newly incorporated SPV controlled by a consortium comprising Gulf Falcon Holdings and Entsha.
Ezra Davids
Ezra was recognised as the Individual DealMaker of the Year by DealMakers in 2009, and is highly respected for his commercial acumen. Though he is pragmatic and cuts swiftly to the heart of matters, he achieves this with a grace that defuses what might otherwise be problem areas. Ezra’s passion for business is well recognised. In particular, he is not the kind of leader who leaves the long hours to subordinates. In the words of a colleague, “He is always prepared to get stuck into the detail and turn around documents at short notice.”
During 2024, Ezra led the Bowmans team advising on two buy-side public M&A transactions, namely Quexco’s acquisition of Metair Akü Holding Anonim Sirketi (Turkish operations) from JSE-listed Metair, and Canal+ on its offer to MultiChoice minorities – a R35bn transaction and the 2024 Deal of the Year.
In 2023, he led the Bowmans team in two standout transactions involving international clients headquartered in Switzerland and Brazil, advising on the South African aspects of (i) UBS Group AG’s acquisition of Credit Suisse Group AG and (ii) WEG Industries’ acquisition of a dedicated industrial motors and generators business from US group, Regal Rexnord Corporation.
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Originally from De Aar in the Northern Cape, Ezra has a BA LLB from the University of Cape Town, a Higher Diploma in Tax from the University of the Witwatersrand, and a certificate in the Leadership of Law from Harvard University.
Comment from the Independent Panel: A highly accomplished lawyer with specific involvement in the Canal+ transaction in 2024.
Krishna Nagar
He jointly led the team that advised Royal Bafokeng Holdings and the consortium on the R6,75bn acquisition of 100% of Swiftnet SOC from Telkom SA – one of the biggest BEE deals of the year and shortlisted for the 2024 Catalyst Private Equity Deal of the Year.
Krishna was also involved in several other notable transactions, including Alterra Capital Partners’ acquisition of Chill Beverages and Inhle Beverages, which was another shortlisted nominee for the Catalyst Private Equity Deal of the Year. He co-led the team that advised on the sale of The Courier Guy to Adenia Capital Partners, and was part of the team that served as lead financial adviser to Growthpoint on the disposal of its entire shareholding in Capital & Regional (R3,39bn).
In prior years, Krishna has been involved in many market leading transactions; most notably, the sale of Pepkor to Steinhoff (2014), the IPO of Life Healthcare (2010), the restructure of Mediclinic (2012), the acquisition by CBC of Clover (2019), the acquisition of Old Mutual Private Equity of Long4Life (2021), and the IPO of Alexander Forbes in (2014), among others.
According to a peer in the industry, “Krishna is a very experienced dealmaker who gives the right advice at the right time and is not scared to tell clients what they must hear to get deals done. His strategic and solution orientated approach enables his clients to successfully navigate the tricky phases that occur in all transactions. Through his insight, he is able to unlock deals that may otherwise be unsuccessful.”
Krishna matriculated from Sutherland High School and graduated from the University of Pretoria with a BSc (Honours), Actuarial Mathematics.
Comment from the Independent Panel: The panel noted Krishna’s role in the Barloworld proposed take private, Chill Beverages, and Swiftnet transactions.
He and his team were able to negotiate an increase in offer price that was well above the initial price proposed by the consortium, as well as materially above the average takeout premium paid for these types of transactions on the JSE over the past five years.
Logan Hufkie (PSG Capital)
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A director at PSG Capital, Logan Hufkie started her career at ENS in the corporate commercial department, focused on M&A in a variety of sectors including mining, hospitality, retirement villages and private equity.
Logan honed these dealmaking skills at PSG Capital, which she joined in 2021. As an adviser, she has been instrumental in the growth and success of PSG Capital in recent years, having been intricately involved in several significant transactions in Southern Africa. According to her colleagues, “her remarkable success is driven by her relentless pursuit of excellence. She possesses an exceptional talent for identifying opportunities where others see obstacles, and her innovative thinking transforms potential roadblocks into pathways for growth.”
Comment from the Independent Panel: Logan has strong dealmaking skills, evident in her lead roles on the WeBuyCars unbundling and listing and the Harith PAIDF transaction.
Logan Hufkie
Some of her most notable deals over the past three years include, at high-level, the following:
In 2024, Logan was PSG Capital’s lead on the separate listing and unbundling of WeBuyCars by Transaction Capital. In the incorporation of Harith InfraCo and acquisition of infrastructure assets across Africa from the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF), she was instrumental in the structuring of the deal from a technical and legal perspective. These two deals were shortlisted in their categories, with the Harith InfraCo transaction winning the 2024 Private Equity Deal of the Year.
Logan worked on the implementation of Nampak’s capital restructuring process, comprising the 2023 R1bn rights offer. Separate to the rights offer, she acted as deal lead for PSG Capital in respect of Nampak’s R2bn asset disposal plan, which comprised the disposal of its South African liquid cartons business, the shares in Bevcan Nigeria, the shares in Nampak Zimbabwe, and its liquid and cartons business. She was also actively involved in CA Sales’ listing transfer to the JSE and its acquisition of the remaining shares in the Mac Mobile group of companies, and the 2022 PSG Group restructure, unbundling and subsequent delisting.
“What sets Logan apart from other dealmakers is her dedication to her clients and team, coupled with her impressive ability to think on her feet and adapt. She has an excellent business acumen and a fine grasp of legal and financial matters. She is a tough but fair negotiator.”
Logan attributes her discipline and work ethic to many years of ballet training and the balancing act which she played in managing her academic, sport and ballet timetable. This too has served her in her career.
Logan attended the University of Cape Town, where she obtained her Bachelor of Accounting (specialising in accounting with Law) and Bachelor of Laws degrees. She is an admitted attorney.
Dave Sinclair (Rand Merchant Bank)
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Dave Sinclair joined Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) in 2007 and has over 20 years’ experience in the capital markets, having held various roles across both the FirstRand Group and RMB. He now serves as co-Head of RMB Corporate Finance’s Equity Capital Markets (ECM) team.
As the spearhead of RMB’s ECM franchise, Dave has developed keen insights and experience in the capital markets, and leverages his naturally solution-oriented mindset to deliver successful outcomes for RMB’s clients. According to his peers, he has exceptionally strong problem solving and technical skills, and a unique ability to develop deep client relationships.
South African equity markets have seen a resurgence, driven by positive macroeconomic trends and a favourable re-rating of equity prices, and Dave’s wealth of ECM experience and execution excellence has ensured that RMB has been able to capitalise on the notable uptick in equity market activity.
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Under Dave’s guidance, the RMB ECM team successfully completed several major transactions during 2024. These were:
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Brait’s secondary sell down of shares in Premier (R900m);
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Remgro’s secondary sell down of shares in Momentum Group (R2,7bn);
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Brait’s rights offer (R1,5bn);
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Kagiso Tiso’s sell down of shares in Momentum Group (R900m);
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Anglo American’s secondary sell down of shares in Anglo American Platinum (R7,2bn); and
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Boxer Retail’s initial public offering (R8,5bn).
Dave attended St Stithian’s College. He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a
B. Comm, B. Acc, Accounting and Finance, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Dave Sinclair
Comment from the Independent Panel: A very active year in the ECM space, noting Dave’s deep involvement in Pick n Pay’s recapitalisation and the Boxer IPO.