Bowman Gilfillan is identified by tax practitioners as having raised its profile this year, with one adviser noting that "they have really got a good tax practice there and they are pretty strong in other areas too". Wally Horak leads the tax department ...
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Bowman Gilfillan is identified by tax practitioners as having raised its profile this year, with one adviser noting that "they have really got a good tax practice there and they are pretty strong in other areas too". Wally Horak leads the tax department and Johan Kotze leads their dedicated tax dispute resolution practice. The firm can advise across a full range of tax issues, but cross-border structuring and capital markets are areas where it has a particularly good reputation. For both those areas, Horak is singled out by competitors as being a notable practitioner. Given their reputation for such matters, it is no surprise that the firm's clients include several financial institutions, such as Morgan Stanley, Standard Bank and Goldman Sachs, as well as South African and multinational companies such as SABMiller and Verizon. Recent work has included advising Davis Langdon on the sale of its assets and business to AECOM in South Africa and other African countries. The firm advised on all elements of the transaction on the African continent which was part of Davis Langdon's sale of its operations in Europe, America, Australasia, Africa and Asia. From a tax perspective, this involved coordinating cross-border tax issues to ensure compliance and to avoid any unnecessary tax liability accruing to the seller. The arrival of partner Lionel Shawe this year attracted attention. He is now head of the firm's banking and finance team and has significant experience in tax matters in those areas. Competitors expect his arrival to add to the strength of the firm's tax practice in capital markets and financial services where it already had a good reputation.
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