Significant matters

• Currently representing a global automotive parts producer before the South African Competition Tribunal, Competition Appeal Court and Constitutional Court in relation to allegations of price fixing and market allocation.
• Successfully advised Toyota Motor Corporation and Hino Motor Limited in obtaining merger approval before the South African Competition Commission in respect of the transaction between Hino Motors Limited and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation.
• Successfully advised the Interpublic Group of Companies in obtaining merger approval before the South African Competition Commission.
• Successfully represented Oryx Energies before the Competition Tribunal in relation to the cylinder deposit investigation.
• Advised multinational clients active in the plastics sector before competition authorities in South Africa, Nigeria, COMESA and Morocco.
• Successfully opposed an abuse of dominance complaint on behalf of a significant telecommunications infrastructure provider, resulting in a non-referral by the Competition Commission.
• Advised FMCG clients in relation to investigations and market inquiries before the Eswatini Competition Commission.
• Advising multiple clients across sectors in relation to formal and informal sector-specific initiatives by the South African Competition Commission, including the LPG, grocery retail, fresh produce, banking, and automotive aftermarkets market inquiries.
• Advised Eutelsat SA in its acquisition of OneWeb Holdings Limited before the South African Competition Commission.
• Represented Conservatorium / Centerbridge in civil proceedings in South Africa following the Steinhoff share price collapse, forming part of what was the largest civil claim instituted in South Africa.
• Advising a fibre network operator in relation to multiple proceedings before the South African competition authorities.
• Advised clients in relation to proceedings before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture (Zondo Commission).
• Successfully advised Premier FMCG in obtaining merger approval for its acquisition of the “Mr Sweet” confectionery business from Lodestone Brands in South Africa, Eswatini, Namibia and Botswana, including extensive public interest assessment.
• Advised Premier FMCG in relation to merger approval in Eswatini for the acquisition of Swazi Mahewu.
• Represented Takata Corporation before the Competition Tribunal in relation to price fixing and market allocation complaint referrals.
• Assisting a major international airline with regulatory and competition law matters across Africa, including exemption applications.
• Assisted international clients in relation to Competition Commission investigations in the LPG sector, automotive parts sector, milling industry, oil and gas sector, motion picture industry, air cargo sector, and construction sector.
• Successfully advised Google Inc. in relation to an abuse of dominance complaint before the South African competition authorities.
• Advised Pick n Pay Limited in relation to the Competition Commission’s high-profile investigation into the grocery retail sector.
• Advised the Internet Service Providers’ Association of South Africa (ISPA) in successfully opposing the proposed Telkom / Business Connexion (BCX) merger.
• Advised clients in relation to abuse of dominance investigations in the telecommunications and beer sectors.
• Advised petroleum and energy clients in relation to cartel investigations, including the Bitumen cartel.
• Advised air cargo clients in relation to investigations into fuel surcharge and cargo rate price fixing.
• Advised Premier Foods Limited in relation to its successful corporate leniency application arising from the bread cartel investigation, and subsequently in precedent-setting class action damages litigation before the Supreme Court of Appeal, Constitutional Court, and High Courts.
• Represented Nu Metro Filmed Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Disney Enterprises, Warner Bros Entertainment, Universal Studios and Videovision Entertainment in litigation concerning infringement of film licensing rights.
• Advised on regulatory and criminal investigations into the largest money-laundering scheme in South Africa’s history involving the South African Reserve Bank and other authorities.
• Advised Eli Lilly Animal Health (Elanco) in relation to the acquisition of Novartis Animal Health before the South African competition authorities.
• Advised Merck & Co. and Sanofi-Aventis in relation to their animal health joint venture.
• Advised Monsanto & Company in relation to the USD 66 billion acquisition by Bayer AG before South African competition authorities.
• Advised Verizon Business in relation to the disposal of its South African business to MTN Limited.
• Advised Anglo American in relation to the sale of its zinc assets to Vedanta Plc, and separately in relation to the disposal of its stake in Highveld Steel and Vanadium.
• Represented Pearson Plc and Maskew Miller Longman in merger proceedings arising from the global merger between Pearson Plc and Harcourt Education International.
• Successfully represented Makaranga Electrical Industries (Pty) Ltd t/a Wilec in obtaining interim relief from the Competition Tribunal in relation to an abuse of dominance by Allbro (Pty) Ltd.

Practice Areas

• Competition Law & FDI
• Corporate and commercial
• White collar crime
• Regulatory

Sectors and services

• Consumer goods
• Healthcare
• Mining and resources
• Energy, oil & gas
• Agriculture
• Agrichem
• Automotive and airlines
• Casinos
• Financial services
• Food and beverage
• Healthcare
• Technology, media and telecommunications

Papers and Publications

• Global Competition Review: The African and Middle Eastern Antitrust Review
• Stephany also contributes to the Concurrence’s e-Competition Bulletin

Presentations

• Stephany presented her paper at CRESSE’s 19th International Conference on ‘Market Inquiries and Public Interest Mandates: Designing Effective Competition Tools for Structural Reform’.
• Stephany presented a paper at CRESSE’s 17th International Conference on ‘Intellectual property rights litigation and competition law violations in South Africa’. Stephany also participated as a discussant on the paper ‘Antitrust and Intellectual Property Rights: Toward a New Schumpeterian Approach.’
• Stephany presented a paper at CRESSE’s 14th International Conference on the ‘Role of Non-Competition Law Factors in Competition Law Enforcement’ in Greece.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science (University of the Witwatersrand) with majors in Chemistry and Biochemistry.
• Bachelor of Laws (University of South Africa).

Experience

• Stephany has practiced in the regulatory, commercial litigation and antitrust fields in Africa for over 15 years and acted in many leading antitrust matters. She obtained her articles and continued to work at one of the top five law firms in South Africa. She has experience in merger notifications and interventions, prohibited practices, corporate leniency, horizontal and vertical restrictive practices, abuses of dominance, exemption and interim relief applications.

Accolades

• Market-recognised in The Legal 500 as “sought after” for expertise in competition litigation and merger control mandates, reflecting strong standing within the competition law market

Professional Associations

• Currently serves as the African Regional Representative on the IBA’s Women Lawyers’ Committee