Shawn van der Meulen

Shawn van der Meulen is a Partner at Webber Wentzel in Johannesburg, specialising in Competition Law. He advises on merger control, cartel and prohibited practice investigations, exemption applications, and compliance across a wide range of industries, including agri‑business, banking, beverages, chemicals, construction, FMCG, gambling, healthcare, information technology, mining, motor vehicles, printing, private equity, retail, steel, and textiles.

He was a key member of the competition team acting for Anheuser‑Busch InBev (AB InBev) in its 2016 acquisition of SABMiller, which required multiple competition filings and approvals across Africa, and in AB InBev's subsequent disposal of SABMiller's interests in Distell to the Public Investment Corporation. Webber Wentzel was awarded the Competition and Regulatory Team of the Year award for its involvement in these matters at the 2017 Africa Legal Awards. In 2015, he was responsible for competition merger notifications in three out of four transactions nominated for the DealMakers' Private Equity Deal of the Year award, including the winning transaction. Outside South Africa, he has prepared merger notifications for multi‑jurisdictional African mergers to the COMESA Competition Commission and competition regulators in Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Shawn holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics for Competition Law from King's College, London (2009), an LLB from Rhodes University (2004), and a BA from Rhodes University (2002). He is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa. He has been named by Chambers Global (2022‑2026), Best Lawyers (2021‑2026) — including Lawyer of the Year for Competition/Antitrust Law 2026 — and Legal 500 (2019‑2025) as a legal expert in competition law.