John Bellew

John Bellew is Head of the Private Equity sector at Bowmans in Johannesburg, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and fund formation. He advises on private equity fund formation, management arrangements, acquisition finance, public market mergers and acquisitions, listings, and take-private transactions.

John has advised prominent South African and international private equity houses on some of the largest private equity transactions in the South African and broader African markets, representing private equity borrowers and high-yield lenders, and has formed numerous private equity funds focused on South and Sub-Saharan Africa. He has also been involved in lobbying activities on behalf of the South African industry body SAVCA regarding pension fund participation in private equity funds, taxation, and exchange control.

John holds a BCom and an LL.B (cum laude) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a Diploma in Tax (cum laude) from the University of South Africa. He is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

He has been consistently ranked in Band 1 for Corporate/M&A: Private Equity by Chambers and Partners (2016–2025), inducted into The Legal 500 Hall of Fame for Commercial, Corporate and M&A and Investment Funds, and rated as Highly Regarded for Private Equity by IFLR1000 (2021–2025).