Eversheds has opened four offices across Africa through tie-ups with South African firm Mahons Attorneys and Tunisia's El Heni.

The agreement with Mahons has handed Eversheds presences in Johannesburg, where Mahons has two offices, as well as Cape Town and Mauritius. The ten-partner firm will rebrand as Eversheds in the New Year.

Former Routledge Modise chairman Terry Mahon set up Mahons in 2011. Johannesburg-based Routledge Modise was an ally of Eversheds until the firms split earlier this year over client conflicts. Mahon was a board member at Eversheds for two years until 2010.

Hogan Lovells has since merged with Routledge Modise. The combination went live at the start of December.

Eversheds chief executive Bryan Hughes said: "We have extremely strong and long standing relationships with many of the Mahons team, including senior partner Peter van Niekerk who was deputy chairman of our previous business in South Africa."

Meanwhile Eversheds has tightened its links with El Heni in Tunisia after a two-year cooperation agreement between the firms. The joint venture will be known as Eversheds El Heni.

The firm confirmed in October that it had entered talks to set up bases in Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana and Kenya over coming months, as well as a proposed move back to South Africa, in a bid to dramatically expand its footprint on the continent.

The firm also launched the Eversheds African Law Institute (EALI) initiative, designed to allow participating law firms to access training and knowledge sharing programmes while promoting commercial opportunities. So far firms in 14 countries have signed up to the venture.