Sally Hutton is co-head of Webber Wentzel's Private Equity Practice and a member of the firm’s Management Board.
Sally has experience in all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, with particular experience in buy-out and exit transactions (both public and private) for private equity funds.
Sally completed her BA (cum laude) in 1990 and her LLB (magna cum laude) in 1992 at the University of Cape Town. During her studies, she received numerous scholarships and awards including the Twamley Undergraduate Scholarship for the most outstanding academic performance at the end of the first year of study, the Attorneys' Fidelity Fund Scholarship, the Scheepers Memorial Scholarship, the TW Price Memorial Prize and the Butterworths Prize, all for the best LLB student in the intermediate year, and the Judge Schock Prize and the Juta Law Prize for the best final year LLB student. In 1993 she was awarded the Patrick and Margaret Flanagan Scholarship for study at the University of Oxford. She completed her Master of Studies (Legal Research) at the University of Oxford in 1994 and went on to complete her LLM (Taxation) (cum laude) at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1999.
Sally commenced articles at Webber Wentzel in 1995 and was appointed as a corporate partner in 1999.
Areas of expertise
All aspects of private equity transactional work and specifically leveraged buy-outs (including due diligence, structuring advice, acquisition documentation, acquisition finance, structuring the management participation arrangements, consortium arrangements, shareholders arrangements and funding, BEE funding and reorganisations)
Mergers and acquisitions
Restructurings and recapitalisations
General commercial law
Top matters
Acted for Euridyke B.V. in relation to the disposal of the Waco Group to a consortium led by Ethos Private Equity. (Value confidential).
Acted for Capitalworks in relation to the leveraged acquisition of the Rhodes Food group of companies. (Value confidential).
Acted for RTT Holdings and its shareholders in relation to the disposal of its health sciences business to Imperial Group for ZAR 500 million.
Acted for a consortium comprising Actis, RMB, RMB Ventures and MIC Investment Holdings (Proprietary) Limited in relation to the acquisition of Tracker Investment Holdings (Proprietary) Limited for ZAR3,9 billion (DealMakers Private Equity Deal of the Year for 2011).
Acted for Ethos Private Equity Fund V in relation to a series of transactions pursuant to which Ethos Private Equity Fund V and certain existing shareholders of Universal Industries Corporation Limited (Universal) acquired joint control of Universal at an enterprise value of ZAR1, 3 billion.
Acted for Capitalworks and Pronto Holdings (Proprietary) Limited (Pronto) in the disposal of the entire issued share capital of Pronto to Pretoria Portland Cement Company Limited, valued at ZAR280 million less debt.
Acted for the lenders and bondholders in relation to the underwritten recapitalisation and debt restructuring transaction between Super Group and its lenders and bondholders. The rights offer was over-subscribed and raised cash proceeds of ZAR1 billion.
Acted for the lenders in relation to the underwritten capitalisation and debt restructuring transaction between AG Industries and its lenders (ZAR205 million).
Acted for the Kagiso Health Consortium (led by Kagiso Trust Investments (Proprietary) Limited in relation to their participation in the Adcock Ingram Holdings Limited ZAR1,3 billion BBBEE transaction in terms of which the Kagiso Health Consortium, Kurisani Youth Development Trust and an ESOP for Black employees of Adcock acquired an effective 13% of Adcock's issued share capital.
Acted for Actis and Old Mutual in the secondary buy-out of Alstom (SA) (Proprietary) Limited (now Actom) for ZAR5,16 billion (DealMakers Private Equity Deal of the Year in 2008 and Venture Capital Deal of the Year in the 2008 Africa Investor Investment Awards).
Acted for Ethos Private Equity Fund V in relation to the ZAR 1,4 billion buy-out and delisting of Tiger Automotive Limited.
Co-led the team which acted for funds managed by Bain Capital LLC in the ZAR25 billion buy-out and delisting of Edgars Consolidated Stores Limited, the largest private equity transaction to date in the South African market (DealMakers Private Equity Deal of the Year in 2007).
Acted for Ethos Private Equity Fund V in relation to the ZAR1,1 billion buy-out and delisting of Brandcorp Holdings Limited.
Accolades
Ranked as a leading lawyer in the field of Corporate/M&A by Chambers Global 2007-2012
Ranked as a leading lawyer in the field of Banking & Finance and Capital Markets by Chambers Global 2007-2011
Listed by Legal Experts EMEA 2012 - 2013 as an expert in her field
Named as a leading practitioner in the Guide to the World's Leading Private Equity Lawyers 2010
Listed as a leading lawyer in the field of Capital Markets by IFLR1000 2006-2013
Listed in the fifth edition of Mail & Guardian Book of South African Women 2009/2010 under the category of Advocates and Attorneys
Endorsed as a leading Private Equity lawyer by PLC Which Lawyer? 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and as a leading Corporate/M&A lawyer by PLC Which Lawyer? 2012
Selected for inclusion in The International Who's Who of Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyers 2012
Included in the Guide to the World's Leading Women in Business Law 2012 published by the Legal Media Group
