International law firm Eversheds has forged a partnership with Mahons Attorneys in South Africa and a Tunisia-based law firm El Heni to further expand in Africa. The tie-up with Mahons Attorneys will enable Eversheds to have a base in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Louis in Mauritius while the law firm of El Heni will serve as the office of Eversheds in Tunisia.

Mahons will then be rebranded to Eversheds next year. It is comprised of ten partners who would be giving advice on business matters to both domestic and international clients. The El Heni firm, which was previously called CWA Tunisia, will also be renamed as Eversheds El Heni.

In a statement, Eversheds Chief Executive Bryan Hughes said about the newly-formed partnerships, "We have extremely strong and long standing relationships with many of the Mahons team, including Senior Partner Peter van Niekerk who was deputy chairman of our previous business in South Africa. Having a strong platform in South Africa is vital to our growth plans in the region and this is a significant addition to our global offering." He added that Eversheds has already worked with the El Heni team for a number of years and are happy that the relationship would be taken to the next level. Hughes said that a strong presence in Tunisia will give Eversheds a key resource that would enable the law firm to deliver their world class international legal services.

The partnerships formed with Mahons and El Heni are part of the pan-African strategy which Eversheds unveiled early in October. The strategy includes the establishment of more offices in key markets like Ghana, Morocco and Kenya in the next few months.

Eversheds also launched the Eversheds African Law Institute, which enabled African member law firms to get access to training and knowledge sharing programs while promoting commercial opportunities in the region and around the world.