Biography: Project Finance

Mashudu Junior Mphafudi is a director at the firm's finance, projects and banking practice and provides services in most areas of finance (acquisition, asset and leverage), equity funding, project finance, corporate and commercial law and deal/investment structuring. He began his career at Hofmeyr Herbstein Gihwala in 2001 and moved to Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr in 2008.

He is currently advising SA Metals Equity (Proprietary) Limited 2.5 billion rand pig iron project, that will harvest material from disused mine dumps, with key shareholders comprising of foreign investors and South African investors; Rare Metals Industries (Proprietary) Limited, Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Limited, National Empowerment Fund and Magnesium & Metals Limited (Russian entity) in respect of their participation in relation to the establishment of an integrated metals refining plant that will produce pure Titanium, Zirconium, Hafnium and PV grade Silicon, the project's value is 15 billion rand; part of a team that advised Sephaku Cement (Proprietary) Limited in respect of a cement project worth 14 billion rand; and part of a team advising Transnet Limited in relation to the concessioning of the operations of its branch lines forming part of its secondary network to private operators. The project entails ring-fencing Transnet Limited's secondary network, assessing the feasibility of each branch line (and in some instances clusters of branch lines) and procuring operators of the branch lines or branch line clusters through a series of approximately 31 concession contracts.

In the past he has advised and drafted equity finance and security documents relating to the Foskor BEE mining transaction on behalf of the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Limited; and advised and drafted the transaction agreements on behalf of the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa in respect of the equity investment of 400 million rand directly into Hippo Mining Ventures (Proprietary) Limited and indirectly in Wesizwe Platinum Mining Limited.

He has a BIuris, LLB and LLM from the University of Johannesburg, diploma in Company Law, certificate in Competition Law and a certificate in Banking and Finance from the University of the Witwatersrand. He also has a diploma in Labour Law from the University of Johannesburg.