Morné van der Merwe

Morné van der Merwe
Partner
Morné, a partner and co-founder of Alchemy, is a recognised international dealmaker. He routinely assists clients with merger and acquisition matters, securities law, mining transactions, broad-based black economic empowerment transactions, capital markets, corporate finance and structuring, leveraged and management buy-outs, and private equity transactions. Morné is regularly ranked as a leading lawyer in his areas of expertise.
Major publishable transactions
Capital Markets
- Advised Southern Point Resources in connection with the subscription of up to 29.9% of the issued share capital of Bushveld Minerals, a company listed on the LSE.
- Advising Southern Point Resources regarding the sale of shares in Bushveld Vanchem (Pty) Ltd and Pamish Investments No 39 (Pty) Ltd.
Black Economic Empowerment
- Acting for Impala Platinum in respect of preference share mechanism structures to be made available as part of the black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction announced by them following their acquisition of Royal Bafokeng Platinum.
- Advised Impala Platinum Holdings Limited (Implats) on a series of agreements to implement a meaningful broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) transaction at both its Impala Rustenburg and Impala Bafokeng assets.
Mergers and Acquisitions
- Acted for Bidvest Automotive in respect of the acquisition of the major vehicle testing services provider, Dekra Automotive.
- Advising Southern Point Resources and Bushveld Minerals in respect of the highly publicised acquisition by Southern Point Resources from Bushveld Minerals of the Mokopane vanadium mine and the Bushveld Vanchem processing plant.
- Advising Asia Minerals Resources Ltd (incorporated in Hong Kong) on its acquisition and development of manganese assets in South Africa.
- Acted for French waste management group SUEZ in the inbound acquisition of EnviroServ Waste Management (Pty) Ltd. This was a complex deal involving several African jurisdictions and follows through on the direct foreign investment that South Africa desperately needs. The transaction was one of the largest South African private equity exits in 2022.
- Led the merger and acquisition transaction announced by Bidvest Group Limited to acquire a sizeable Australian cleaning services business, BIC Services. The deal forms part of Bidvest’s strategy to expand offshore.
- In-house counsel for Umzwilili for the acquisition by Umzwilili of the entire issued share capital in EnviroServ Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Rock Wood loan claims in EnviroServ Waste Management (Pty) Ltd.
- Attorney for Suez International for a transaction for the subscription of shares by the consortium Umzwilili Environmental Solutions (Pty) Ltd.
- Formulated the joint venture between Thelo and Deutsche Bahn to form Thelo DB and led the multibillion-dollar transaction that will see Thelo DB take on rail management for the Government of Ghana in an economically significant transportation and infrastructure project for the West Africa region.
- Advised Impala Platinum Holdings Limited in relation to its proposed acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding common shares in North American Palladium, the Canadian-based primary platinum group metals producer listed on the TSX and the US OTC market.
- Represented Aveng Limited in their disposal of Trident Steel Africa to a consortium of local and USA private capital providers, including Investments (Pty) Ltd and Trident Steel’s management.
- Legal advisor to Bid FinServ Capital (Pty) Ltd relating to the sale of shares in BWEB (Bidvest Wealth Employee Benefits) by Bid FinServ to Alexander Forbes Financial Services (Pty) Ltd.
- Handled the legal matters of the 100% sale of shares and claims in Aveng International Construction Limited to Kosto Holdings Limited.
- Legal representative for Aveng Africa (Pty) Ltd regarding the sale of the Rossway Factory Business as a going concern to Afriset Manufacturing (Pty) Ltd.
Mining, Minerals and Natural Resources
- Advised Impala Platinum in its public acquisition of all of the shares in Royal Bafokeng Platinum, a company listed on the JSE. The transaction entailed a voluntary offer that then became a mandatory offer, followed by a compulsory squeeze out of minorities. This was a major transaction on the JSE and involved Northam Platinum intervening and a number of proceedings before the Takeover Regulation Panel.
- Advised Impala Platinum Holdings Limited in relation to its proposed acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding common shares in North American Palladium, the Canadian-based primary platinum group metals producer listed on the TSX and the US OTC market.
- Advising Southern Point Resources and Bushveld Minerals in respect of the highly publicised acquisition by Southern Point Resources from Bushveld Minerals of the Mokopane vanadium mine and the Bushveld Vanchem processing plant.
- Advising Asia Minerals Resources Ltd (incorporated in Hong Kong) on its acquisition and development of manganese assets in South Africa.
- Advised Impala Platinum Holdings Limited (Implats) on a series of agreements to implement a meaningful broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) transaction at both its Impala Rustenburg and Impala Bafokeng assets.
- Acting for Impala Platinum in respect of preference share mechanism structures to be made available as part of the black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction announced by them following their acquisition of Royal Bafokeng Platinum.
Restructuring and Insolvency
- Represented Aveng Limited in their disposal of Trident Steel Africa to a consortium of local and USA private capital providers, including Investments (Pty) Ltd and Trident Steel’s management.
- Handled the legal matters of the 100% sale of shares and claims in Aveng International Construction Limited to Kosto Holdings Limited.
- Legal representative for Aveng Africa (Pty) Ltd regarding the sale of the Rossway Factory Business as a going concern to Afriset Manufacturing (Pty) Ltd.