Chadbourne & Parke represents Southern Cross Latin America Private Equity Fund IV, L.P. in an Agreement to Acquire Grupo Expansión from Time Inc.
Chadbourne & Parke represented Southern Cross Latin America Private Equity Fund IV, L.P. (Southern Cross) in connection with an agreement to acquire Grupo Expansión (GEX), a subsidiary of media company Time Inc. The closing of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in Mexico.
GEX is Mexico’s second largest magazine publisher with a portfolio of 16 magazines, 10 websites and a monthly reach of nearly 30 million. GEX’s brands include: Expansión, ELLE, Obras, Manufactura, IDC, Quién, ELLE Decoration, InStyle, Accént, Aire, Gran Plan, Quo, Chilango, Life & Style, Metros Cúbicos, Travel + Leisure, Revolution, CNNExpansión, Mediotiempo, ADNPolítico and CNNMéxico.
Southern Cross is a private equity fund formed in 2010 with approximately $1.68 billion in capital commitments and which targets investments in Latin America. Chadbourne has regularly represented Southern Cross as well as its predecessor funds in connection with their formation and with various portfolio company acquisitions and dispositions.
Principal attorneys working on the transaction were New York partners Morton Grosz, Erez Tucner and Marjorie Glover, as well as associates Ted Castell, Michael Masri, Patrick Narvaez and Patrick Dorime.
Karanovic & Nikolic
Agrokor Completes Acquisition of Mercator
Agrokor Group and the consortium of sellers of Mercator, have recently announced that all of the preconditions for the transaction have been satisfied, allowing Agrokor to purchase a 53.1 percent stake in Mercator. The deal was finaliszd on June 27. Mercator is Slovenia’s largest retailer and Agrokor is the largest private company in the region, active predominantly in the manufacturing, distribution and retail of fast moving consumer goods.
Partner Rastko Petaković, led the legal advice to Agrokor Group on the acquisition process and merger clearances on behalf of Karanović & Nikolić.
Hengeler Mueller advises banks on the issuance of a hybrid bond by Württembergische Lebensversicherung AG and an early repurchase
Hengeler Mueller has advised Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch and UniCredit Bank AG with respect to the issuance by Württembergische Lebensversicherung AG of a hybrid bond in the aggregate principal amount of EUR 250m (ISIN: XS1064049767) and a repurchase offer regarding the outstanding 20NC10-Subordinated Notes (ISIN Code: XS0244204003). The decision regarding the repurchase offer was conditional upon the issue of the new hybrid bond.
Württembergische Lebensversicherung AG intends to use the proceeds of the bond issuance to strengthen its solvency capital with respect to future regulatory capital requirements and for general corporate purposes.
The Hengeler Mueller team was led by both partner Hendrik Haag and counsel Bianka Bielecke (both Banking and Capital Markets) and included associates Julia Weidner as well as Lisa Friedsam. Württembergische Lebensversicherung AG was advised by Thilo Grutschnig and Alexandra von Zastrow (both inhouse).
Hengeler Mueller advises STRABAG on refinancing by syndicated loan
STRABAG SE, a European-based technology group for construction services, has concluded the renewal of a €2bn syndicated surety loan with a term of five years with two extension options of one year each. The credit range replaces the previous line in the same amount. The line of credit will be available to all STRABAG subsidiaries for sureties (bank guarantees) within the scope of exercising the general business activity.
The consortium of 14 international banks is led by Deutsche Bank and Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI). Further bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers are Baden-Württembergische Bank, Bayerische Landesbank, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, ING Bank, a branch of ING-DiBa AG, SEB AG and UniCredit.
Hengeler Mueller partner Johannes Tieves (Financing) advised STRABAG on the transaction.
Hengeler Mueller advises Lone Star on acquisition of Spanish-Portuguese real-estate loan portfolio
Hypothekenbank Frankfurt has sold commercial real-estate loans in Spain and Portugal to Lone Star and JPMorgan in an aggregate face amount of €4.4 bn. The purchase agreement is governed by German law.
Hengeler Mueller advised Lone Star on this transaction. The Hengeler Mueller team included partner Martin Geiger (Banking and Capital Markets) as well as associates Jan Penselin and Jesko Kamischke. Vinson & Elkins advised on UK law, Uría Menéndez on Spanish and Portuguese law.
Hengeler Mueller advises American & Efird Global and KPS Capital Partners on acquisition of Gütermann
KPS Capital Partners, LP (KPS) announced yesterday that its portfolio company American & Efird Global L.P. (A&E) will acquire substantially all of Gütermann Holding SE’s (Gütermann) global industrial and consumer thread business. Completion of the transaction is expected on June 30, 2014 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
A&E is the largest U.S. manufacturer and the world’s second-largest manufacturer and distributor of sewing thread. A&E’s products are manufactured in 20 countries. The group employs more than 9,000 associates around the world. Gütermann is a leading European manufacturer and distributor of high-quality sewing thread products for consumer and industrial applications. Gütermann owns and operates four manufacturing facilities located in Germany, Spain, Mexico and India, and employs approximately 1,000 associates around the world.
Hengeler Mueller is advising A&E and KPS on the transaction. The Hengeler Mueller team is led by partners Peter Weyland and Frank Burmeister (both M&A) and includes partners Alf-Henrik Bischke (Competition), Heinrich Knepper (Financing), Hans-Joachim Liebers (HR), Matthias Scheifele (Tax), Dirk Uwer (Public Law), counsel Andrea Schlaffge (IP) as well as associates Anne Broll, Astrid Harmsen, Friederike Kirch-Heim, Abhijit Narayan, Marcel Nuys, Nadine Rinck, Matthias Rothkopf, Daniel A. Spitze, Christoph Trautrims, Deniz Tschammler and Lars Voigt.
Hengeler Mueller advises KKR on voluntary public tender offer to the holders of preference shares of WMF AG
Finedining Capital GmbH (“Finedining”), a holding company indirectly controlled by funds advised by KKR (together with affiliates, “KKR”) and majority shareholder of WMF AG, announced its intention to make a voluntary public tender offer to all holders of preference shares of WMF AG for the acquisition of all non-voting bearer preference shares of WMF AG.
KKR has entered into an agreement with FIBA Beteiligungs- und Anlage GmbH (“FIBA”) as the second major shareholder in WMF AG. KKR and FIBA will combine their shareholdings in WMF in a holding structure, after the public tender offer has been executed and anti-trust clearance has been given.
Hengeler Mueller is advising KKR and Finedining on the transaction as on the acquisition of a majority stake and on the voluntary public takeover offer for WMF in 2012. The Hengeler Mueller team includes partners Wolfgang Meyer-Sparenberg, Maximilian Schiessl and Jochen Vetter (all Corporate/M&A), Heinrich Knepper (Financing) and Thorsten Mäger (Competition) as well as associates Alexander Ego, Elisabeth Kreuzer, Lars Mesenbrink, and Dennis Schlottmann.
Hengeler Mueller advises Aalberts Industries on public offer to Impreglon shareholders
Aalberts Industries N.V. has announced its intention to make a voluntary public offer to the shareholders of Impreglon SE and its agreement with the major shareholders to participate in the public offer. The public offer equals a total consideration of approximately €119m for all outstanding shares.
Aalberts Industries is a group mainly active in surface treatment with 26 production locations in Europe, Eastern Europe and China. Impreglon SE is a company listed on the stock market active in the same business segment with different technologies.
Hengeler Mueller is advising Aalberts Industries. The Hengeler Mueller team is led by partners Matthias Hentzen and Bernd Wirbel and includes associates Matthias Cloppenburg and Frederik Gärtner (all Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf).
Hengeler Mueller advises Dürr on acquisition of HOMAG shares
Dürr AG, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Dürr Technologies GmbH, has reached agreement with several major shareholders of HOMAG Group AG (HOMAG) to acquire a total of 53.7% of HOMAG shares. The purchase price for the 53.7% of the HOMAG shares is € 219 million. An agreement was also reached with the Schuler family and the Klessmann foundation, who have so far held a 25.1% stake in HOMAG in the form of a share pool, on Dürr joining the pool. The share pool will consent to the completion of a control and/or profit and loss transfer agreement by Dürr. The execution of the purchase contracts is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities. Dürr will submit a voluntary public takeover offer to the HOMAG shareholders to acquire all of the shares.
HOMAG is a manufacturer of plant and machinery for the woodworking industry. The company operates worldwide and achieved sales of € 789 million in 2013 with around 5,100 employees.
Dürr is a mechanical and plant engineering group and employs approximately 8,250 staff at 54 business locations in 26 countries worldwide. In 2013 Dürr achieved sales of € 2.4 billion.
Hengeler Mueller advises Dürr on the transaction. The Hengeler Mueller team includes partners Daniela Favoccia, Klaus-Dieter Stephan (both M&A/Corporate), Christian Hoefs (Labour) (all Frankfurt), Alf-Henrik Bischke (Antitrust, Düsseldorf) as well as associates Heiko Gotsche, Johannes Baumann, Andreas Lischka, Anne Broll, Christin Posdziech (all Frankfurt), Anja Balitzki (Düsseldorf), Jan-Henning Wyen (Munich).
Gleiss Lutz advises Värde on acquisition of participation in financial services provider Kreditech
Värde Partners has participated as lead investor in big data finance company Kreditech’s Series B financing. In this second financing round, Hamburg-based Kreditech raised approx. USD 40 million in equity and is currently valued at USD 190 million. This makes it one of the largest venture capital funding rounds in Germany in 2014. Värde Partners Inc. is a global investment manager specializing in alternative investments. Founded in Hamburg in 2012, Kreditech presently has over 140 employees. It is one of the fastest-growing European technology oriented financial services providers. The Gleiss Lutz team included partners Jörn Wöbke (Hamburg) and Jan Bauer (Frankfurt, both lead, corporate/M&A), counsel Alexander Molle (IP/IT, Berlin) as well as associates Daniel Heck, Franziska von Hutten, Dr. Fabian Walla (all corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Sebastian Tusch (financial regulatory, Frankfurt) and Iris Benedikt-Buckenleib (competition/antitrust, Munich).
Gleiss Lutz advises Landesbank Berlin on sale of operations
Gleiss Lutz has advised Landesbank Berlin AG and Landesbank Berlin Holding AG on the sale of investment arm LBB-Invest and LBB’s customer-related capital markets business to DekaBank. LBB-Invest currently manages an investment portfolio of approx. EUR 10 billion. DekaBank will be maintaining LBB-Invest as an independent company at its Berlin site. The staff of LBB’s customer-related capital markets business will transfer to DekaBank. Landesbank Berlin and DekaBank both belong to the German Savings Banks Finance Group. The takeover process was launched in spring 2013 and successfully completed in early 2014. The Gleiss Lutz team included Steffen Carl (lead, partner, corporate/M&A, Munich), Ralf Morshäuser (partner, corporate/M&A, Munich), Stefan Lingemann (partner, employment, Berlin/Hamburg), Maximilian von Rom (partner, banking and finance, Frankfurt), Christian Steinke (partner, corporate/M&A, Berlin), Stefan Mayer (partner, tax, Frankfurt), Petra Linsmeier (partner, antitrust, Munich), Charlotte Beck (counsel), Rut Steinhauser (both employment, Berlin), Markus Weingarth (employment, Hamburg), Martin Viciano Gofferje (counsel, corporate/M&A, Berlin), Tobias Falkner (counsel), Christoph Limmer (both corporate/M&A, Munich), Sebastian Tusch (banking regulatory, Frankfurt), and Iris Benedikt-Buckenleib (antitrust, Munich).
Baker & McKenzie advises Commerzbank on the refinancing of Industrial Development Bank of Turkey’s loan syndication
Baker & McKenzie advised Commerzbank as the agent, and a syndicate of 13 international banks, on a dual tranche club loan facility extended to Industrial Development Bank of Turkey, intended to fund trade finance and project finance-related transactions.
The firm advised Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft (Commerzbank) on a $10 million and EUR 91 million dual tranche club term loan facility extended to Türkiye Sınai Kalkınma Bankası A.Ş. (TSKB), Industrial Development Bank of Turkey.
Commerzbank acted as mandated lead arranger along with Bayerische Landesbank, Citibank N.A. Nassau Branch, ING European Financial Services Plc and Standard Chartered Bank. Credit Suisse AG, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., Banka Kombëtare Tregtare Sh.a., OYAK ANKER Bank GmbH, Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas, UniCredit Bank AG and WGZ BANK AG Westdeutsche Genossenschafts-Zentralbank also committed to the deal at various levels. The deal signed on July 8.
A cross-border team of lawyers from Baker & McKenzie’s Paris office and Esin Attorney Partnership, the Turkish member firm of Baker & McKenzie, advised on the term loan facility. The firm’s EMEA Head of Banking Michael Foundethakis (Paris) and Banking & Finance Partner Muhsin Keskin (Istanbul) led the team advising Commerzbank with support from Nicholas Macheras (Paris) and Erdem Şişmangil, Mustafa Özkan Özdoğan and Deniz Erden (Istanbul).
“This is the third consecutive TSKB syndication on which the firm has advised Commerzbank and other lenders on over the last three years, and our team’s success has, once again, further cemented our relationship with Commerzbank in Turkey and globally,” commented Banking & Finance Partner Muhsin Keskin.
Commerzbank is a German banking and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt. With over 1,200 branch locations in Germany alone, it is one of the most significant private German banks and has a substantial global presence in over 50 countries. Commerzbank is mainly active in private banking, retail banking and mortgaging, and also offers banking and capital market services to corporate clients and institutional investors.
Industrial Development Bank of Turkey was founded in 1950 as Turkey’s first privately owned development and investment bank with a goal of developing private industry. Today, TSKB continues to support development through extending medium to long-term loans to finance productive fixed asset investments in all sectors of the Turkish economy, as well as aiding the inflow of local and international capital to Turkish companies.
