Paul Russell

Director

Telephone: +27 (0) 11 666 7565

Paul is a Founding Director of Nortons Inc. He advises on a range of regulatory issues, including South African and African competition law (in particular, merger control, joint ventures, dawn raids and cartel investigations, prohibited practices, corporate leniency applications, horizontal and vertical restrictive practices, abuse of dominance and applications for exemptions and interim relief, as well as the new criminal provisions under the South African Competition Act), healthcare and telecommunications regulation, consumer protection and commercial and general litigation.

Having spent four years as Senior Legal Counsel at De Beers, Paul’s areas of expertise also include all regulatory issues relating to the diamond industry, in particular, the Diamonds Act, 1986, as amended, and Regulations, the Diamond Export Levy Act, 2007 and the Diamond Export Levy (Administration) Act, 2007

Significant Litigation Transactions

Represented the merging parties in the acquisition by Dawn Consolidated Holding of control of Sangio Pipes;
Represented the merging parties in the acquisition by Dawn Consolidated Holdings of control of Pro-Max;
Represented the merging parties in the acquisition by Dawn Consolidated Holdings of control of Swan Plastics; and
Represented Element Six (a subsidiary of De Beers) in the acquisition of Barat Carbide.

Paul represented WBHO in relation to the Competition Commission’s investigation into the construction industry and fast-track settlement process and also subsequent related matters. These matters include the Competition Commission’s referral to the Competition Tribunal of alleged collusion by certain large construction companies in relation to the FIFA World Cup stadia;
Paul represented Dawn (i.e. all of the respondents) in the recent Competition Tribunal case involving alleged market allocation between Dawn (through its subsidiary DPI) and Sangio Pipe (in which Dawn has subsequently acquired all of the remaining shares), arising from a provision in the Sangio Shareholders’ Agreement that was in place at the time;
Paul also represented Videx in the Competition Tribunal and Competition Appeal Court hearings in relation to the mining roof bolts matter;
Paul also represented DPI Plastics (a wholly-owned Dawn subsidiary) in the Competition Tribunal hearing in relation to the plastic pipes matter; and
Paul successfully represented Absa in the first comprehensive investigation by the South African competition authorities into banking fees and general banking practices.

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

C.S. Lewis