Ilke Meissner

Ilke Meissner is a Senior Associate at Bowmans in Johannesburg, specialising in banking and finance law, cross‑border corporate lending, acquisition and leveraged finance, and debt restructuring. She advises a wide range of domestic and international clients on South African and cross‑border corporate lending, fund finance, structured finance, and debt restructuring, with a major focus on innovative financing solutions in developing markets.

Ilke has advised on significant transactions across multiple jurisdictions, including advising Intesa Sanpaolo Group, Investec Bank, and a large syndicate of international lenders on USD 130 million loan facilities to CRDB Bank, being the first private sector syndicated loan transaction in Tanzania; a consortium of international lenders on a USD 13.3 billion financing provided to London Stock Exchange Group for the acquisition of Refinitiv; Standard Bank and Stanbic on financing provided to Tolaram Group for the acquisition of Guinness Nigeria; the mandated lead arrangers on the EUR 1.9 billion bridge financing to Group Canal+ SA for the offer to acquire MultiChoice Group; and Ascendis Health Ltd on the restructuring of its approximately ZAR 6 billion indebtedness, a first‑of‑its‑kind in the South African market. She has also advised on fund finance for major funds including The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and Helios Investment Partners, and project finance including the Hanseatic Energy Hub in Germany and Patrizia Infrastructure's investment in Numbat.

Ilke holds a BAccLL.B (Bachelor of Accounting and Bachelor of Laws) from Stellenbosch University, where she also earned a Doctor of Laws (LL.D).