Watson Attorneys provided end-to-end legal support for the Oya Energy Hybrid Project — Africa’s largest and globally unique hybrid energy project — encompassing FICA/KYC compliance, comprehensive due diligence, a formal legal opinion confirming the validity of key project documents and security arrangements, and notarial registration of real rights over the land, thereby securing enforceable project financing and enabling the successful delivery of this landmark infrastructure transaction. What many don’t know about is the behind-the-scenes work that happens to make a project of this magnitude happen. For example, from a land rights perspective, every turbine, every solar panel and every battery requires legal consideration. Navigating these complex land rights requires the expertise of a specialist law firm, and this is where Cape Town-based property law specialist, Watson Attorneys, added significant value to this project.

There is a critical, often underappreciated, role that specialist conveyancers and notaries play in enabling large-scale renewable energy infrastructure projects in South Africa. Watson Attorneys successful completion of all conveyancing and notarial work was integral to achieving Financial Close and unlocking the R4.4 billion investment required to bring this landmark REIPPPP Round 4 project to commercial operation. The Roggeveld Wind Farm, located along the straddling boundaries between the Western Cape and Northern Cape Provinces near the towns of Laingsburg, Matjiesfontein and Sutherland, is designed to generate around 613 GWh per year, satisfying the energy needs of roughly 49,200 households while avoiding approximately 502,900 tons of CO₂ emissions annually, and was developed under the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), with Eskom as the primary purchaser of power generated. The project

On 1 July 2022, Arkema finalised the acquisition of Permoseal in South Africa, with Watson Attorneys successfully completing simultaneous conveyancing registrations across a seven-site, multi-provincial property portfolio. On 1 July 2022, Arkema finalised the acquisition of Permoseal in South Africa, a leader in adhesive solutions for DIY, packaging and construction. The transaction involved a multi-site property portfolio spanning seven underlying property transactions across the Western Cape, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal. Renmere was engaged as independent advisor to structure the transaction, while Watson Attorneys managed all conveyancing aspects — including title due diligence, identification of encumbrances and servitudes, and coordination across the relevant Deeds Offices to align registration timelines with the commercial completion date. The conveyancing workstream required simultaneous registration of transfers across all seven sites to ensure that property rights vested in Arkema (or

Utilising the rollover relief provisions under sections 42 (asset-for-share) and 45 (intra-group transaction) of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, Watson Attorneys managed the conveyancing aspects of a two-step corporate restructure, to transfer a Cape Town property (carried at approximately R25 million) from PHC to GHC, with the transaction structured to avoid triggering immediate adverse income tax, CGT, VAT, and transfer duty consequences, while carefully distinguishing between the applicable transfer duty exemption provisions under section 9(1)(l) and section 9(15A) of the Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949 to prevent unintended tax implications upon implementation. Watson Attorneys attended on the conveyancing aspect of a two-step corporate restructure involving a foreign holding company (“the Foreign Parent”), domiciled outside the Republic, and two South African resident companies — a Property-Holding Company (“PHC”) and a Group

Watson Attorneys conducted a comprehensive commercial lease review for Virgin Active South Africa — critically scrutinising rent escalations, maintenance obligations, termination clauses, and tenant improvement allowances across large-scale national developments — while operating under a unique embedded contractor model, fully integrated within the Virgin Active property department, to negotiate and secure strategically favourable lease terms aligned with the client’s long-term operational and financial objectives. We completed a comprehensive lease review for Virgin Active South Africa, with a particular focus on negotiating and securing favourable settlements in the context of large-scale developments across the country. Our firm’s extensive expertise in real estate and commercial lease law positioned us to meticulously scrutinize all lease provisions—rent escalations, maintenance obligations, termination clauses, and tenant improvement allowances—to ensure that Virgin Active’s long-term operational and financial objectives are fully