Hamburg – MDAX-listed CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA, the number one provider of ticketing services in Europe and number two in the world, has today entered into a put option agreement with companies in the listed French media group Vivendi. This grants Vivendi the right to sell to CTS Eventim all the shares in the companies that are part of its festival and international ticketing activities. Vivendi will now conduct a consultation procedure with the relevant employee representative bodies so that it can decide on accepting the put option. Vivendi’s ticketing business includes See Tickets UK, the second-biggest ticketing firm in England, along with other companies in Europe and the US. These companies sold a total of around 44 million tickets in the 2023 financial year. The deal does not include the shares in Vivendi’s French ticketing company, See Tickets SAS. The festival business operated by Vivendi includes companies from England and France that organise festivals such as Junction 2 and Garorock. CMS advised CTS Eventim on all aspects of the transaction. The team headed by Henrik Drinkuth worked closely with several CMS offices in countries including France, England, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands. CMS Germany Dr Henrik Drinkuth, Lead Partner Dr Hendrik Quast, Senior Associate, both Corporate/M&A Prof. Malte Grützmacher, Partner, IT/Data Pro­tec­tion Chris­toff Soltau, Part­ner Al­ex­an­der Laute, Senior Associate, both Competition Dr Martin Gerecke, Partner, Media Law CMS France Alexandra Rohmert Vincent Desbenoit Dylan Allali, all Corporate/M&A Claire Van­nini  Guil­laume Melot, both Competition CMS UK John Enser, TMT Nick Crosbie  Jade Tran  Maria Doran, all Corporate/M&A CMS Spain Luis Miguel De Dios Jorge Peris Hevia, both Corporate/M&A and Commercial CMS Portugal Miguel Santos Ferreira, Corporate/M&A and Commercial CMS Switzerland Stefan Brunnsch­weiler An­drea Relly Anna Mast, all Corporate/M&A CMS Netherlands Elmer Veenman Bob Barnhoorn, both Corporate/M&A and CommercialPress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

Ham­burg/Stut­tgart – Main Street Capital Corporation, a publicly traded financial investor based in Houston, Texas, has acquired Maass Global Group through one of its portfolio companies, Gulf Manufacturing, LLC. The Essen-based company is a global leader in the manufacture and sale of flanges and forged specialty products, forged steel bars, seamless tubes and fittings made of duplex, stainless steel and high-nickel alloys. In addition to its headquarters in Essen, the Maas Global Group has further locations in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, India, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.A CMS team led by Dr. Eckart Gottschalk and Dr. Kai Wallisch provided comprehensive legal advice to Main Street Capital Corporation on this transaction. In addition to corporate law advice, the focus was on the legal implementation of the financing. As part of the transaction, CMS Germany worked closely with CMS law firms from the Netherlands, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates as well as the American law firm Locke Lord and AZB & Partners from India. Main Street Capital Corporation is a publicly traded investment company with a market capitalization of approximately USD 3.9 billion. It specializes in long-term financing of middle-market companies in various industries through management buyouts, re­cap­it­al­iz­a­tions, growth financing and acquisitions. With the investment to acquire Maas Global Group, Main Street Capital Corporation is deepening its existing investment in the manufacturing of flanges, fittings and other specialty products for industrial applications. CMS Germany Dr. Eckart Gottschalk, Lead Partner Dr. Kai Wallisch, Lead Partner Dr. Paul Kintrup, Senior As­so­ci­ate Mil­itsa Decheva Petrova, Senior Associate Dr. Alexander Weinhold, Senior As­so­ci­ate Tjorben Drawe, Associate Sonja Schanze, As­so­ci­ate Kath­rin Dengel, Associate, all Corporate/M&A Dr. Marc Seibold, Partner Anne Waßmuth, Counsel Carla Kaeber, Associate, all Banking & Finance Dr. Hans Fabian Kiderlen, Principal Counsel Theresa Friedle, Associate, both Real Estate & Public Dr. Michael Kraus, Partner Thomas Fröhlich, Counsel, both TMC Dr. Jacob Hinze, Counsel, Employment Law Dr. Martin Mohr, Partner, Tax Christoff Henrik Soltau, Partner Dr. Robert Bodewig, Senior Associate, both Antitrust, Competition & Trade Kai Neuhaus, Partner Moritz Pottek, Counsel, both Brussel EU Law Office CMS Netherlands Roman Tarlavski, Partner Maarten Feenstra, Associate Fleur Assendelft de Coningh, Associate Anne Fleur Krijthe, Candidate civil law notary CMS Singapore Toby Grainger, Partner Leslie Tay, Associate CMS UAE Patrik Daintry, Partner Fawzi Oueidat, Associate Locke Lord Greg Heath, Partner Nicholas Jennings, Partner Jason Ulezalka, Partner Case Towslee, Associate Jake Chagoury, Associate Mason Marek, Associate AZB & Partners Srinath Dasari, Senior Partner Gautam Rego, Partner Yash Anand, Associate Gopika Menon, AssociatePress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

Hamburg – SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (SEFE) has acquired all the shares in WIGA Transport Beteili­gungs-GmbH & Co. KG (WIGA) from its co-shareholder Wintershall Dea AG. The transaction is currently awaiting approval from the competition authorities. SEFE is wholly owned by the Federal Republic of Germany. WIGA owns regulated gas pipeline operators GASCADE Gastransport GmbH and NEL Gastransport GmbH, who operate one of the largest high-pressure gas networks in Germany with a combined length of around 4,150 kilometres. These networks have a key role to play in European energy security and the green energy transformation. The transaction will strengthen SEFE in its role of ensuring secure and reliable energy supply in Germany and Europe, as well as boosting its hydrogen ex­pert­ise.“With the full acquisition of WIGA as sole shareholder, we are strategically strengthening SEFE as an independent and autonomous midstream company,” commented Reinhard Gorenflos, Chairman of the SEFE Supervisory Board.“SEFE being the sole shareholder of WIGA will ensure that GASCADE can convert the existing high-performance infrastructure to hydrogen in the future. In this way, we can help drive forward the green energy transformation. Transportation infrastructure is a pivotal part of the future hydrogen value chain,” said Dr Egbert Laege, CEO of SEFE. “The two WIGA subsidiaries, GASCADE and NEL, will continue to operate independently and market their capacity in a transparent and non-dis­crim­in­at­ory manner.”SEFE CFO Dr Christian Ohlms highlighted the importance of WIGA with regard to the privatisation of SEFE, which is due to take place by the end of 2028: “With this transaction, which is expected to complete by summer 2024, we are strengthening SEFE’s asset base. Our aim is to continue the long-term development of SEFE on a stable financial footing.”A multinational CMS team headed by Hamburg-based partner Dr Holger Kraft advised SEFE on all aspects of acquiring WIGA. In addition to extensive due diligence on the entire WIGA Group, including GASCADE and NEL, which are regulated under energy law, this work covered negotiation of the share purchase agreement and separate agreements with the shareholders of Wintershall Dea AG. Alongside negotiating the transaction agreements, the advice focused on safeguarding the transaction through several W&I insurance agreements, including negotiating the policies, and handling regulatory issues relating to gas network operation and other public-law matters. CMS Germany worked closely with the CMS law firms in the UK and Luxembourg, and with US law firm Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. CMS previously advised the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in 2022 and 2023 around their trusteeship over SEFE and its subsequent nationalisation by way of corporate actions. The instructions for this transaction followed on from that successful cooperation. About SEFE:As an integrated midstream energy company headquartered in Berlin, SEFE Securing Energy for Europe ensures the security of energy supply in Germany and Europe and is driving the green energy transformation. SEFE is active in trading & portfolio management, sales, transportation and storage of energy and has its strongest presence in Germany and the UK. SEFE employs around 1,500 people and supplies over 50,000 customers, in particular industrial customers and municipal utilities in Germany and seven other European markets. With a sales volume of around 200 TWh of power and gas, SEFE plays a central role in stability of the energy supply in Germany and Europe. SEFE is owned by the Federal Government of Germany. CMS Germany Dr Holger Kraft, Lead Partner Dr Jan Schepke, Partner Matthias Sethmann, Principal Counsel Dr Dirk Baukholt, Principal Coun­sel Char­lotte von der Heydt-von Kalckreuth, Counsel Dr Stefan Kühl, Senior Associate Dr Paul Kintrup, Senior Associate, all Corporate/M&A Dr Rolf Hempel, Partner Dr Friedrich von Burchard, Partner Nicole Köppen, Senior Associate, all Regulatory Dr Hermann Müller, Partner Dr Arno Görlitz, Associate, both Public Commercial Law Dr Martin Mohr, Partner Dr Olaf Thießen, Principal Counsel, both Tax Dr Alexandra Schluck-Amend, Partner Manuel Nann, Senior As­so­ci­ate Pit-Jo­hannes Wagner, Associate, all Restructuring Dr Andreas Hofelich, Partner Dr Mario Brungs, Counsel Dr Lena Pingen, Associate, all Em­ploy­ment/Pen­sions Dr Fritz von Hammerstein, Partner Jan Gröschel, Senior Associate Heike Weyer, Senior Associate, all Public Law Dr Stefan Voß, Partner Tamara Bux, Associate, both Real Estate Dr Sebastian Cording, Partner Martin Krause, Partner Dr Shaya Stender, Associate Joel Coché, Associate, all Commercial Dr Julia Runge, Principal Counsel, Finance Dr Michael Bauer, Part­ner Chris­toff Henrik Soltau, Partner Dr Robert Bodewig, Senior Associate Luisa Thomasberger, Associate, all Antitrust, Competition & Trade CMS UK Russel Hoare, Partner Sam De Silva, Part­ner Jean-Fran­cois Willems, Of Counsel Jennifer Louch, Senior As­so­ci­ate Max­imili­an Weaver, Senior Associate Louisa Mottaz, Associate CMS Luxembourg Angelique Eguether, Senior As­so­ci­ate Guil­laume Flagollet, Managing Associate Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP (USA) Mollie D. Sitkowski Inhouse at SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH Dr Jörg Kammerer Jörn RimkePress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

Ham­burg/Frank­furt – KKR has today announced a voluntary public takeover offer made to all the other shareholders of Encavis AG of EUR 17.50 per share in cash. This represents a transaction volume of around EUR 2.8 billion. Family-owned business Viessmann GmbH & Co. KG will participate as co-investor in the KKR-led consortium. The offeror has signed binding agreements with Abacon Capital GmbH and other major shareholders holding around 31% of the total share capital. These shareholders will continue to be long-term investors in the company indirectly through a stake in the offeror’s corporate structure. Encavis and the offeror have signed an investor agreement on the key points of the transaction. In line with the investor negotiations, the consortium will support the strategic ambitions of Encavis to accelerate growth. The offer document will be submitted by the offeror within the next two weeks for approval by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Completion of the transaction is subject to a minimum acceptance threshold and regulatory approvals, among other conditions. CMS advised Encavis on the investor agreement via a team headed by Dr Henrik Drinkuth and Ayleen Görisch, together with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and will advise the Encavis management board on all legal aspects of the takeover offer. The company is a longstanding CMS client. CMS Germany Dr Henrik Drinkuth, Partner Ayleen Görisch, Counsel, both Lead Dr Hendrik Quast, Senior Associate, all Corporate/M&A Christoff Soltau, Partner Kai Neuhaus, Partner Dr Robert Bodewig, Senior Associate David Rappenglück, Associate, all Antitrust, Competition & Trade Philipp Melzer, Partner Hatice Akyel, Counsel Patrick Damanik, Senior Associate, all Banking, Finance & Insurance Encavis Natalie Grüber (Head of Legal)Press Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

Berlin – International commercial law firm CMS Germany was recognised yesterday evening as Law Firm of the Year for Antitrust at the JUVE Awards 2023. The JUVE Awards are regarded as among the most...

Hamburg – CMS has advised Tree Energy Solutions (TES) on its joint venture with Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) to develop the Wilhelmshaven energy import terminal. TES has found a new partner in...

Hamburg - Investment company Marguerite Pantheon SCSp has sold its 22.5 percent stake in the German offshore wind farm Butendiek to the Irish investment company Greencoat Renewables PLC. The offshore...

Stut­tgart/Brus­sels – State-owned gas trader SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (SEFE) can continue to operate as an integrated midstream gas company and pursue its chosen realignment strategy after...