Zareenah Rasool
Biography
Zareenah Rasool is an associate in Baker McKenzie's Antitrust & Competition Practice Group in London.
Zareenah's experience spans the full spectrum of antitrust and competition law across multiple African jurisdictions, including cross-border merger control, prohibited practices, compliance, corporate leniency and foreign investment review.
She advises prominent multinational companies, such as Platinum Equity Global, Sika AG, Coats Group and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), amongst others, including a number of global private equity groups, on high value and complex merger transactions. She also advises and represents blue chip multinational companies such as Google, L'Oréal, Unilever and GlaxoSmithKline in respect of market investigations and antitrust litigation relating to abuse of dominance, cartel conduct and vertical restraints.
Zareenah has broad experience in diverse industries, including private equity, digital markets, technology, media and telecommunications, consumer goods, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
Prior to joining the firm, Zareenah worked extensively in the field of legal research and writing at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she was a lecturer, research assistant and legal writing consultant.
Representative Legal Matters
Merger Control / Mergers & Acquisitions
- Advised and assisted Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) in successfully obtaining clearance in South Africa for its multi-million Rand acquisition of the food and beverage ingredients business of Comhan Products.
- Advised and assisted Sika AG in relation to its high-profile acquisition of chemical admixture and chemical construction systems provider, MBCC Group, in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the European Union. The transaction had a deal value of EUR 5.2 billion.
- Advised and assisted a leading global producer of hearing devices in relation to its proposed high value acquisition of a competing business in the United Kingdom.
- Advised the Coats Group, the world's leading industrial thread manufacturer, on merger control and foreign investment review aspects of two successive multi-million dollar acquisitions of footwear component manufacturers, with a combined deal value of over EUR 207 million.
- Advised blue chip multinational private equity company on merger control and foreign investment review aspects of a series of bids to acquire an architectural glass and hardware products and architectural glazing systems business and a high-performance thermoplastic and advanced solutions business.
- Advised a private equity company in relation to merger control aspects of its bid to acquire a high-profile sports and casual footwear retail supplier in the United Kingdom.
Antitrust Litigation / Compliance
- Advised and assisted Google in making submissions to the South African Competition Commission in relation to a market investigation into online intermediation platforms, and advised Google in relation to associated complaints relating to allegations of an abuse of dominance.
- Advised and defended leading global and pharmaceutical company against a complaint in South Africa relating to allegations of an abuse of dominance.
- Advised Unilever in relation to ongoing complaint proceedings by the South African antitrust authorities involving allegations of cartel conduct.
- Advised leading global consumer goods provider regarding its market position in the United Kingdom market for professional haircare products.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Legal Practice Council of South Africa
- International Bar Association
- Golden Key International Honour Society
- Association of Competition Law Practitioners of South Africa
Admissions
- South Africa (2022)
Education
- University of the Witwatersrand (Master of Laws in Competition and Corporate Law, research cum laude, with distinction) (2020)
- University of the Witwatersrand (Bachelor of Laws, cum laude, with distinction) (2018)
- University of the Witwatersrand (Bachelor of Commerce) (2016)
Previous Offices
- Johannesburg