Forms of Business Enterprise should prove to be an invaluable resource for students, academics and practitioners. The book not only presents the material in a simple, understandable and easy-to-follow fashion, but also covers a number of commercial law topics relating to business undertakings and representation of such undertakings.

The book is divided into four parts. Part 1, comprising chapters 1 to 3, is dedicated to business enterprises generally and sets the stage for the discussion of complex issues in Part 2 (corporate finance law and agency) and Part 3 (corporate governance). Part 4 deals with the reform of company law in South Africa.

Chapter 1 is a general introduction that lays the foundation for all the subsequent chapters and explains the sections into which the book is divided. Chapter 2 deals with unincorporated business undertakings, and chapter 3 deals with incorporated business undertakings. The unincorporated business undertakings discussed in this book include partnerships, sole proprietorships and business trusts, and the incorporated undertakings include companies (public and private) and close corporations.

Most books on business undertakings in South Africa discuss the topics involved as though they were unrelated. That approach causes the reader to view entrepreneurial law as a collection of unrelated topics that are unified by virtue of being bound together between the covers of one book. moves away from that approach and draws a link between all aspects of entrepreneurial law in a way never done before.

The authors have placed particular emphasis on the simplification of topics relating to company law. These topics are divided into two areas — corporate finance law and corporate governance (discussed in Parts 2 and 3 respectively), and the authors emphasise the natural link between these areas. This approach is new to literature on company law in South Africa.