WATCH: Dealmaking in SA at levels last seen in 2015

SA’s top dealmakers, corporate financiers and legal advisers were recognised at the DealMakers magazine’s recent black-tie gala event.

Editor Marylou Grieg points out, extracting those deals executed by companies with secondary listings on the JSE, local deal activity for the year was R484.6bn — a level not seen since 2015.

Depressing indeed. The largest deal by a SA-listed company (by value) was the acquisition by Vodacom of a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt, valued at R41,6bn. The deal is a game-changer for Vodacom as it seeks to diversify its revenue stream, and to rival MTN on the continent. The deal was unsurprisingly awarded the Brunswick Deal of the Year for 2021.

Drilling down, of the 472 deals announced in 2021, the real estate sector dominated, making up just under a third of all deals recorded by DealMakers, and valued at R93bn.

Michael Avery is joined by Christo Els, senior partner and chair of Webber Wentzel; Lydia Shadrach-Razzino, executive corporate commercial at ENS Africa and winner of the DealMaker of the Year; Krishna Nagar, co-head of corporate finance at Rand Merchant Bank; and Vodacom CFO Raisibe Morathi.