Mr Robert Lee Appelbaum
Partner
Webber Wentzel
South Africa
W : www.webberwentzel.com
Industry / Sector
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure, Logistics, Manufacturing, Mining, Power & Energy, Trade
Personal Profile
Robert is a senior partner of Webber Wentzel. Robert specialises in mergers and acquisitions, project related and other transactional work across a number of sectors Robert has represented a substantial number of Asian, American, European and South African owned multinational companies in relation to their expansions into Africa. He has worked in and is expert in several African jurisdictions including Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mozambique, Kenya, Namibia, and others. Robert has significant experience in the mining, and healthcare, energy, and infrastructure sectors.
Robert was lead attorney for Business Unity South Africa and Business 4 South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic and he was and remains lead attorney to the South African National Department of Health in relation to the acquisition and d of COVID-19 vaccines.
Robert was previously Honorary Business Representative for the Middle East and Africa Group for International Enterprise Singapore; the Singapore government agency driving Singapore's external economy.
Robert has also been recognized in several international journals as an expert several legal fields.
Robert sits as a director on several boards, including the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation and IRD South Africa.
Robert has BA and LLB degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Robert is the co-author of two books, namely “Public Offers of Company Securities” and of “Business Rescue and Compromise Offers”.
Robert is married to Marina and has two adult daughters.
Company Profile
Our firm at a glance With over 150 years of experience and industry knowledge, Webber Wentzel is one of the leading full-service law firms on the African continent. We combine the collective knowledge and experience of our firm to provide clients with seamless, tailored and commercially-minded business solutions within record times. If there is a dominant theme in the history of Webber Wentzel, it is a theme of change and transformation. Through our alliance with Linklaters and our deep network of relationships with outstanding law firms across Africa, we are able to provide our clients with the best available expertise wherever they do business. We believe in making a positive contribution to the communities in which we work and we are proud to call ourselves home to one of South Africa's most long-standing, dedicated pro-bono practices. We are committed to promoting access to justice for all South Africans, upholding the Constitution and protecting the rule of law. Our Corporate Social Investment initiatives also focus on supporting initiatives and projects that promote access to justice, education and access to education and socio-economic development. As a firm, we are committed to transformation and diversity. We are an accredited Level 1 broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) contributor and we are engaged in a number of initiatives aimed at driving transformation and inclusivity within our organisation, the legal sector and our society. We value excellence and innovation and work with our clients to help them achieve success in whatever they do. Our passion to help our clients achieve their goals is reflected in the quality of the delivery of our service. We aim to add value in everything we do and to be a trusted adviser to our clients. A responsible business Demonstrable compliance with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles is no longer a nice-to-have for businesses - it's a must-have. Notwithstanding the exponential growth in the mainstream interest in ESG - as an integrated focus on the triple bottom line of 'E', 'S' and 'G' - for us, we have been advising clients on the core themes of 'risk', 'opportunity' and 'impact' for decades. Our leading cross-disciplinary teams of experts advise clients on ESG and sustainability linked issues across all sectors. We help clients to navigate regulatory developments, policy drivers and international benchmarks in pursuit of sustainable development and shared value in the long term. We guide clients on the relevant industry standards and risks and bring a laser focus on supporting our clients to know their business, their supply chain, as well as the broader ecosystem. At Webber Wentzel, we too are committed to making a transformative and sustainable impact through our work and actions, in accordance with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. We are equally committed to good corporate citizenry across the core ESG principles. We understand that our clients expect us to walk the walk and talk the talk on ESG alongside them. Being a responsible and contributing corporate citizen is a key component of our overall business strategy.