Stuart Roux | VDMA Law Associate Partner

STUART ROUX

Associate Partner — Corporate and Commercial

Stuart Roux is an Associate Partner in VDMA’s Corporate and Commercial department and a member of the Corporate and Commercial practice.

Stuart specialises in corporate and commercial law and mergers and acquisitions, with a particular focus on inbound investment into Africa. He advises multinational clients on complex cross-border transactions across a range of sectors, including financial services, agriculture, insurance, energy and renewables, fintech, and telecommunications, media and technology.

He has extensive experience in renewable energy transactions, including the structuring, negotiation and conclusion of numerous solar and wind energy deals for generators, off-takers and aggregators. His M&A experience includes advising on large-scale cross-border acquisitions, disposals and funding transactions across Africa and international markets, including transactions in the fintech, agribusiness and industrial manufacturing sectors. He also advises on regulatory approvals, including competition law and multi-jurisdictional transaction structuring.

Stuart holds an LLB (University of Johannesburg) and an LLM in Commercial and Insurance Law (cum laude). He also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Energy and Climate Change Law from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Certificate in FinTech Law from the University of Hong Kong (edX). He is a recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal for top-achieving Master’s student and the Spoor & Fisher Award for best Master’s dissertation.

Stuart is co-chair of the African Regional Group of Meritas and a member of the Meritas M&A, Technology Law and Energy Law Practice Groups.

Sector Specialty

Financial Services
Energy and Renewables
Fintech
Telecommunications, Media and Technology
Data Protection
Agribusiness

Practice areas

Corporate and Commercial Law
Mergers and Acquisitions
Renewable Energy
Technology

Qualifications

University of Johannesburg, South Africa, Bachelor of Laws Degree
University of Johannesburg, South Africa, Master of Laws Degree (Commercial and Insurance Law) (cum laude)
Chancellor’s Medal for Top Achieving Master’s Student
Spoor & Fisher Award for the Best Master’s Dissertation
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Change and Energy Law
University of Hong Kong, Certificate in Financial Technology Law (edX)

Bar Admissions

Admitted Attorney, South Africa

EXPERIENCE

Mergers and Acquisitions

Acted as lead legal counsel to a United States private equity firm and majority shareholder of Pay@ Holdings in connection with the disposal of an 80% interest in the Pay@ Group to JSE-listed entity Araxi. Valued at USD 62 million, the transaction represents one of the most significant fintech deals concluded on the African continent.

Acted as lead legal counsel for a Southern African agribusiness group on a series of cross-border investment and acquisition transactions, including a capital raise exceeding USD 40 million and the acquisition of large-scale citrus farming operations across South Africa, including transaction structuring, shareholder arrangements, funding structures and implementation across multiple jurisdictions.

Acted as lead legal counsel for an international agribusiness group on a complex cross-border investment transaction valued at approximately USD 45 million, involving a strategic foreign investment by a publicly listed multinational conglomerate, including the structuring of a staged equity investment, shareholder funding arrangements and coordination across South Africa, Mauritius, France, Mozambique and Zambia.

Acted as lead legal counsel to an international environmental clean-up group for the acquisition of one of South Africa’s leading pollution control and environmental clean-up companies involving corporate, commercial, competition and tax law considerations and supporting the client’s strategic expansion into environmental solutions across Africa.

Acted as lead legal counsel for a cross-border equity investment by two Spanish entities into a South African food ingredient manufacturing and consulting firm, in a transaction valued at approximately GBP 2.5 million, including a loan-to-equity conversion, business unit transfer, security releases, due diligence and pre-closing restructuring.

Acts as general legal counsel in South Africa to one of the largest global agricultural input and crop solutions groups, advising on a broad range of corporate, commercial and regulatory matters across its operating subsidiaries, including commercial contracting, governance, risk management, strategic transactions and mergers and acquisitions.

Renewable Energy

Acted for a renewable energy aggregator in a 25-year, 25MW solar energy off-take deal in the Nelson Mandela Bay Region, enabling renewable energy distribution via municipal infrastructure to support regional electricity reliability.

Acted as lead legal counsel to POWERX on a 60MW PV solar renewable energy transaction with a leading global renewable energy generator.

Acted for an Italian-based listed group, in connection with projects generating over 150MW of renewable energy across South Africa.

Acted as lead legal counsel to POWERX on its 24.5MWp solar PPA with Yellow Door Energy for the Naledi Ya YDE Solar Park, a project expected to generate 57.5 GWh annually, offset 59,800 tons of carbon emissions, and support South Africa’s Just Energy Transition.

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