Pieter Steyn is a Director at Werksmans who provides expert advice in the Competition, Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions and Financial Services Regulation practice areas. He specialises in various areas of commercial and corporate law as it relates to companies, cross-border transactions, mergers and acquisitions, management buy-outs, restructuring of corporate entities, black economic empowerment transactions, and due diligence investigations. Pieter is also deeply experienced in matters of supply and procurement, distribution and manufacturing agreements, African trade and projects, competition law, trust and antitrust law, and gaming law (including lotteries).

Experience: 31 years

PRACTICE AREAS

• Competition
• Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions
• Regulatory

EXPERTISE

Commercial and corporate law

• companies and close corporations
• cross-border transactions
• mergers/acquisitions
• management buy-outs
• restructuring of corporate entities
• share incentive schemes
• private equity transactions
• Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) transactions,
• complaints, investigations and advice
• due diligence investigations
• procurement, supply, distribution and manufacturing agreements

African transactions and  projects

• Cross-border joint ventures and other transactions
• establishing businesses in African countries

Competition/antitrust law

• merger control
• cartel investigations and other prohibited practices
• abuses of dominance investigations

Technology and intellectual property

• outsourcing and software licences
• intellectual property licences

Trust law

• Gaming law, including lotteries

CAREER

• BSc (LAB MED) 
• LLB (University of the Witwatersrand)
• LLM (Competition, Patent and Trade Law) (University of South Africa)
• 1996: Director, Werksmans
• Heads the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) practice at Werksmans since 2018
• Chairperson of LEX Africa (an alliance of leading law firms in 26 African countries) since 2001
• Chairperson of the NEPAD Business Foundation (NBF) Legal Sector from 2008 to 2010

Member of the:

• International Bar Association (IBA)
• Committee on Competition Law of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces

• He was an officer of the IBA’s Antitrust Committee from 2001 to 2017 and was co-Chair of the Antitrust Committee in 2016 and 2017. He now serves on the Advisory Board of the Antitrust Committee.
• He was the Co-Chair of the IBA African Regional Forum in 2019 and 2020 and now serves on the Advisory Board of the Forum.
• He is a member of the IBA’s Constitution and Governance Committee.
• He has provided pro bono advice to the Jane Goodall Institute South Africa, Campaigning for Cancer, and educational charity Eureka. Mr. Steyn is a member of the senior advisory board of educational charity Lex. 

Authorships

Pieter wrote the chapter on South African merger control for a book on competition law in the BRICS countries published by Kluwer International in 2012. He co-wrote the South African chapter of the American Bar Association’s treatise on competition laws outside the United States. He also wrote the chapter on South African merger control in the 2012 Kluwer book on BRICS competition law. Pieter contributed the South African chapters to the Global Competition Review publications on vertical agreements and intellectual property and antitrust in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

HIGHLIGHTS

2001 – present: Chairperson of LEX Africa (an alliance of leading law firms in 30 African countries) since 2001

• Speaks English, German, French and Afrikaans
• Co-Chair of the International Bar Association’s Antitrust Committee
• Member of the Committee on Competition Law of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces
• Provided pro bono advice to the Jane Goodall Institute South Africa, Campaigning for Cancer and the education charity Eureka
• Former Chairperson of the NEPAD Business Foundation (NBF) Legal Sector
• IBA Antitrust Committee newsletter rapporteur for South Africa from 2001 – 2010
• IBA Antitrust Committee Secretary and Membership Officer from 2010 – 2011, vice chair and senior vice chair from 2012 – 2015
• IBA Antitrust Committee Vice Chair from 2012 – 2013
• He has written several articles, been interviewed on radio and television and spoken and chaired panels at both local and international conferences and seminars on: