Shahid Sulaiman

Shahid Sulaiman is a Senior Partner at Dentons, serving as Head of the Corporate Practice Group in South Africa, specializing in Mergers and Acquisitions. With more than 20 years of experience, his practice focuses on M&A, project development, corporate finance, corporate structuring and governance, and commercial transactions across the banking and finance, private equity, energy, power, utility, construction, and transportation sectors.

Shahid has advised multinational oil firms on industry‑wide agreements, supply contracts, terminal and depot operation agreements, joint ventures, and restructuring of subsidiary relationships. He has acted for international banks and financial services providers on financial services and securities regulation, banking legislation, derivatives and metals trading, and Islamic law‑compliant banking and insurance products. He has also advised on private equity fund formation, hedge funds, insurance wrappers, trust structures, and funding arrangements for asset management companies and family offices, and has advised on franchising and distribution matters in South Africa.

He holds an LL.B and an LL.M from the University of South Africa (UNISA), an M.A. from the University of Jordan, and a B.Ed from King Saud University. He was admitted as an Attorney of the Legal Practice Council in 2002.

Shahid has been ranked by Best Lawyers South Africa (2022–2025), The Legal 500 for Commercial, Corporate and M&A (2021–2024), and as Highly Regarded by IFLR1000 (2018–2025). He was named Leading Corporate and M&A Lawyer of the Year at the Legal Era Africa Law Awards (2024/25) and is an independently rated Acritas Star (2019–2021). He is a co‑author of the Petroleum and Liquid Fuels Sector Workbook and has contributed to various professional journals and publications.