South African giant Werksmans has merged with black practice Nalane Manaka in what will be regarded as a landmark move for the local legal market.

The tie-up, which goes live this week (3 April), sees all seven Nalane lawyers move to Werks-mans.

The move will be regarded as highly significant coming as South African commercial law firms, which are traditionally white-controlled, respond to national legislation that requires businesses tendering for public work to employ set levels of black staff.

The so-called Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Act, introduced in 2004, effectively grades businesses on the level of their black workforce.

The 48-partner Werksmans, which also manages the Lex Africa network, is one of the country's largest law firms.

Nalane, meanwhile, has been one of the most commercially prominent black practices since being launched in 1999, with a client base that includes Transnet Group, Denel, Pikitup, IDC, Dell Computers and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

Senior partner Joe Nalane said: "We are a young firm with good clients, but we realised we needed to be part of a larger, more established practice for access to the kind of transactions and client base we have in our sights. This merger will contribute to the transformation of the legal profession in South Africa."

Werksmans chairman Des Williams said the move came after the firm set up a taskforce two years ago to improve its ethnic diversity.

The busy South African legal market is now braced for similar tie-ups as white-dominated firms seek experienced black lawyers.

The BEE Act classes businesses with 25% black staff as 'black influenced', 25%-50% 'black empowered' and more than 50% 'black controlled', with the criteria used in handing out public mandates.

The move comes as international law firms show increasing interest in the local legal market. Three foreign firms – White & Case, LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin – have offices in Johannesburg.

In addition, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary last year secured a formal alliance with local giant Cliffe Dekker.