Horizontal agreements

Stuttgart, 05.09.2024 – Bechtle AG has acquired s.i.g. System Informations Gesellschaft mbH, which is based in Neu-Ulm and also has two other locations in Erfurt and Jena. The deal enables Bechtle to strengthen its market position in the economic region around Ulm. It also adds industrial IT to the firm’s product portfolio, i.e. contract manufacturing of IT infrastructure and networks in production environments. The acquisition is part of Bechtle’s growth strategy in the administrative district of Swabia. The transaction is currently awaiting approval from the competition authorities.A CMS team headed by lead partner Dr Tobias Schneider advised Bechtle AG on all legal aspects of the deal. Bechtle is a longstanding CMS client and is regularly advised by CMS on M&A projects. Bechtle AG is one of Europe’s leading IT system integrator businesses and IT e-commerce companies. IT services provider s.i.g. was established in 1997 and generated sales of EUR 25.4 million in the last financial year. The company currently employs some 50 people. CMS Germany Dr Tobias Schneider, Lead Partner Dr Maximilian Eitelbuß, Senior Associate, Co-Lead, both Corporate/M&A Dr Harald Kahlenberg, Partner, Com­pet­i­tion/Mer­ger Control Dr Martin Mohr, Partner Jörg Schrade, Partner, both Tax Carla Kaeber, Associate, Banking & FinancePress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

30.08.2024 - The Deutsche Leasing Group and Berliner Sparkasse are expanding the shareholder structure of their S-Kreditpartner (SKP) joint venture and thereby reorganising the consumer credit business within the Sparkassen savings banks association. The company formed for this purpose, Spar­kassen-Ver­bundgesell­schaft (SKP-VG), will be admitted as the third shareholder by the end of 2024. After the transaction has completed, Deutsche Leasing and Berliner Sparkasse will each hold 40% of SKP, with SKP-VG holding the remaining 20%. The aim of the reorganisation is to bolster SKP’s business model as a specialist for car loans and consumer credit. At the start of August 2024, the Deutsche Leasing Group took over wholesale financing for recreational vehicles from SKP, an operation which is worth a total of around EUR 650 million. This will enable SKP to continue focusing on its core business with private customers, while Deutsche Leasing is strengthening its expertise in inventory financing.A CMS team headed by Prof. Björn Gaul and Dr Dirk Jannott advised the Deutsche Leasing Group on all aspects of the deal. This included both the transfer of the wholesale financing business through a complex carve-out of the associated part of the organisation and the increase in Deutsche Leasing Group’s stake in SKP by way of a share deal. CMS Germany Prof. Björn Gaul, Lead Partner, Employment Dr Dirk Jannott, Lead Partner, Corporate Thomas Gerdel, Partner, Tax Dr Andreas Hofelich, Partner, Occupational Pensions Dr Rolf Hempel, Partner, Antitrust Dr Martin Friedberg, Partner, Tax Artur Baron, Counsel, Corporate Martin Michael Breuer, Counsel, Employment Dr Mario Brungs, Counsel, Occupational Pensions Till Komma, Counsel, Bank Reg­u­la­tion Mor­itz Gerstmayr, Counsel, Bank Reg­u­la­tion Mar­tin Cholewa, Counsel, An­ti­trust Flori­an Mantel, Associate, Bank Reg­u­la­tion An­nalena Drabas, Associate, TaxPress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

Stuttgart – Munich-based private equity firm VTC GmbH & Co. KG has acquired a majority stake in Hürner Luft- und Umwelttechnik GmbH. Headquartered in Mücke-Atzenhain (Hesse), Hürner is a leading manufacturer of plastic fans and a provider of air supply and exhaust systems together with related equipment, with a focus on the industrial process air segment. Clama Holding is retaining a shareholding in Hürner Luft- und Umwelttechnik. By entering into this partnership, Clama Holding and VTC are aiming to drive forward further expansion of Hürner Luft- und Umwelttechnik GmbH. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.A CMS team headed by Dr Claus-Peter Fabian advised Clama Holding GmbH and its management on all legal aspects. CMS Germany Dr Claus-Peter Fabian, Lead Part­ner Kath­ar­ina Ivic, Senior As­so­ci­ate Ver­o­nique Ulmann, Associate, all Corporate/M&A Dr Martin Mohr, Partner, Tax Dr Christian Haellmigk, Partner Malena Hansen, Senior Associate, both Antitrust, Competition & Trade Dr Michael Rein, Principal Counsel, Labor, Employment & Pensions Lukas Potstada, Counsel Tamara Bux, Associate, both Real Estate & PublicPress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

Frankfurt/Main – Nasdaq-listed Bruker Corporation has announced a strategic investment in NovAliX, a preclinical Contract Research Organisation (CRO) specialising in drug discovery services that is headquartered in Strasbourg, France. The NovAliX Group has subsidiaries in countries including France, Belgium, Spain, the US, Tunisia and Japan. Bruker’s aim in making this investment is to accelerate the growth and further expansion of NovAliX, particularly within Europe and the United States. Bruker and NovAliX intend to collaborate on developing new paradigms in drug discovery by leveraging advanced biophysical methods, particularly NMR, for structural, binding and functional char­ac­ter­isa­tion. The transaction is a milestone in Bruker’s strategy of expanding its position as a partner for high-quality services in the life sciences field. An international CMS team headed by partner Dr Hendrik Hirsch and counsel Dr Berrit Roth-Mingram advised Bruker on all legal aspects of the transaction. Bruker is a longstanding CMS client. The US company regularly relies on the expertise of CMS when making acquisitions and disposals. The current instruction demonstrates once again the successful international collaboration of the CMS offices. In this case, CMS offices in France, Belgium and Spain were involved. Most recently, a large international team led by CMS partner Dr Hendrik Hirsch advised Bruker on its acquisition of the ELITech Group. CMS Germany Dr Hendrik Hirsch, Partner, Co-Lead Dr Berrit Roth-Mingram, Counsel, Co-Lead Martina Meier-Grom, Counsel Dr Maximilian Stark, Senior Associate, all Corporate/M&A Dr Thomas Hirse, Partner Dr Roland Wiring, Partner Thomas Fröhlich, Counsel Dr Siham Hidar, Senior Associate Lisa Dietrich, Associate Noah Rodenkirchen, Associate, all IP Dr Michael Bauer, Partner Kai Neuhaus, Partner Moritz Pottek, Counsel David Rappenglück, As­so­ci­ate Be­ne­dikt Christian Voss, Associate, all Antitrust, Competition & Trade Till Komma, Counsel, Banking, Finance & Insurance  CMS France Benoît Gomel, Part­ner François Bossé-Cohic, Counsel Caroline Buyse, Counsel Dylan Allali, As­so­ci­ate Vin­cent Desbenoit, As­so­ci­ate Ant­oine Melchior, Associate, all Corporate/M&A Alexandre Chazot, Counsel Alexis Imbert, both Banking & Finance Arnaud Valverde, Senior As­so­ci­ate Al­izée Fabre-Betti, Associate, both Real Es­tate Jean-Bap­tiste Thiénot, Partner Anaïs Arnal, As­so­ci­ate Solenne Mignot, Lawyer, all IP Caroline Froger-Michon, Partner Florence Duprat-Cerri, Counsel Camille Baumgarten, Associate Sophie Yin, Lawyer, all Em­ploy­ment Claire Vannini, Part­ner Lilia-Ori­ana Dif, As­so­ci­ate Guil­laume Melot, Associate, all Com­pet­i­tion Myri­am El Andaloussi, Associate Paul Letartre, Associate, both TMC Olivier Kuhn, Partner, Dispute Resolution  CMS Belgium Stéphane Collin, Partner Arnaud Van Oekel, Partner Candice Kunkera, Senior Associate Lola Verelst, Associate, all Corporate/M&A Gaël Chuffart, Partner Fatma Ezzahra Sassi, Associate, both Employment Bruno Fonteyn, Senior Associate, Public  CMS Spain Elena Alcázar Cuartero, Coun­sel Ale­jandra Martín Benítez, Associate, both Corporate/M&A Anna De las Cuevas, As­so­ci­ate Guillermo García Diéguez, As­so­ci­ate Fran­cisco Javier Fernández Ródriguez, Lawyer, all Employment Ana Doval Escribá de Romaní, Associate, Public Sol Cruz-Conde de la Moneda, Lawyer, Banking & FinancePress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

Cologne, 25.07.2024 – RSBG SE, the investment arm of the RAG-Stiftung foundation, has sold a majority interest in the Masco Group (Masco) to Ardian, a world-leading private investment firm. Masco is a group of engineering, consulting and technology companies operating in global markets which serve the life sciences industry. With more than 1,000 employees, Masco supports over 6,000 customers worldwide with its products and solutions for manufacturing pharmaceutical and biotech applications. The Borella family and Masco Group’s current management team will reinvest alongside Ardian, while Luca Borella will continue to lead the company as CEO. Industry experts Angelos Papadimitriou and Claudio Colombi will join the Board of Directors as Chairman and Director, respectively. RSBG acquired a majority stake in Masco in 2017. Since then, RSBG and Masco have jointly pursued an accelerated buy-and-build strategy. With four landmark acquisitions in five years, the product portfolio and geographical presence of Masco have been successfully expanded inorganically. An international CMS team headed by lead partner Dr Malte Bruhns advised RSBG on all legal aspects of the transaction. RSBG has regularly relied on the legal expertise of CMS for many years. A CMS team advised RSBG on acquisition of the Masco Group in 2017 (led by CMS partner Klaus Jäger) and also during the acquisition of KeyPlants (2021) and Xils (2023) (headed in each case by CMS partner Dr Malte Bruhns). Established in 1912, Milan-based Masco provides a range of bespoke products and services to the biopharma and life sciences industry. These include high-purity water systems, bioprocessing equipment, modular off-site fabricated facility solutions, process engineering and laboratory, validation, and automation services. Masco’s global footprint includes seven facilities located across Europe, North America, and Asia. RSBG SE has its headquarters in Essen and is the investment arm of the RAG-Stiftung foundation. As an industrial investment company of the RAG-Stiftung foundation, RSBG has been investing since 2014 in high-growth future markets, sectors and industries that are being shaped by global technology trends. Its focus is on innovative and successful medium-sized companies. RSBG currently manages a portfolio of more than 85 companies with over 12,500 employees worldwide. RSBG SE Dr Jan Gudlick (COO) Dr Andreas Jäger (Head of Corporate Development / M&A) Dr Jana Pannemann (General Counsel) Dr Hanna Gotta (Senior Legal Counsel) Peter Rempp (Head of Compliance) CMS Germany Dr Malte Bruhns, Lead Partner Dr Dirk Baukholt, Principal Counsel Philipp Knopp, Senior As­so­ci­ate Chris­toph Schröer, Senior Associate Ole Gunnar Weyand, Senior Associate Dr Katharina Kapp, Associate Dr Henrik Meurer, As­so­ci­ate Domin­ic Zimmer, Associate, all Corporate/M&A Dr Björn Herbers, Partner Moritz Pottek, Counsel Dr Robert Bodewig, Senior As­so­ci­ate Be­ne­dikt Christian Voss, Associate, all Antitrust, Competition & Trade Jan Friese, Principal Counsel, Banking, Finance & Insurance Dr Martin Friedberg, Partner, Tax CMS Italy Daniela Murer, Part­ner Aless­andra Cuni, Counsel Sara Tammarazio, Associate, all Corporate/M&A  CMS Belgium Arnaud Van Oekel, Part­ner Ségolène Regout, Senior Associate Lola Verelst, Associate, all Corporate/M&A CMS Wistrand Erik Hygrell, Partner Louise Rodebjer, Part­ner Se­basti­an Petersen, Senior Associate, all Corporate/M&APress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

Frankfurt/Main, 22.07.2024 – Ichigo and GIGA. GREEN have announced that Ichigo has acquired a minority stake of 24.39% in GIGA. GREEN. GIGA. GREEN designs, develops and operates commercial solar energy systems, battery storage and charging infrastructure in Germany. Ichigo is a leading Japanese sustainable infrastructure company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market (TYO: 2337). Ichigo is dedicated to making the world more sustainable and inter alia operates 64 solar and wind power plants across Japan. The partnership with GIGA. GREEN underscores Ichigo's commitment to deploying its sustainable infrastructure capabilities on a global scale. A CMS team led by partner Dr Oliver Wolfgramm and a team from Nishimura & Asahi headed by partner Sadayuki Matsudaira advised Ichigo on all legal aspects of Ichigo's first acquisition in Europe. CMS Germany Dr Oliver Wolfgramm, Lead Partner Dr Matthias Löhle, Counsel Luca Eckrich, Associate, all Corporate/M&A Dr Carolin Armbruster, Partner Dr Antje Becker-Boley, Partner  Timo Jan Peter Berenz, Associate, all Corporate/M&A Energy Anastasia Shelestova, Senior Associate, Commercial Dr Stefan Voss, Partner Lukas Potstada, Counsel, both Real Estate & Public Yvonne Wolfgramm, Partner Laura Matarrelli, Counsel, both Employment & Pensions Dr André Frischemeier, Part­ner Lea-Mar­ina Nebenführ, Associate, both Banking & Finance Stefan Lehr, Partner, Antitrust, Competition & Trade Nishimura & Asahi Sadayuki Matsudaira, Lead Partner Dominik Kruse, Partner Bonso Morimoto, Associate Sayo Eto, As­so­ci­ate Max­imili­an Lentz, Associate Miriam Steinke, AssociatePress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

The Krone Group has announced that it has taken a stake in the Schwarzmüller Group and is entering into an industrial partnership in the European commercial vehicle industry. It was advised in this context by an international team from commercial law firm CMS.

Berlin, 20.06.2024 – Haufe Group SE, a leading B2B provider of integrated business and workplace solutions, has entered into an agreement to sell all the shares in Haufe-Lexware Real Estate AG to Aareon, a market leader in SaaS solutions for the property industry. The aim of the acquisition is to transfer Haufe-Lexware Real Estate AG’s existing ERP software solutions for the property and housing sector to the Aareon Group’s product portfolio. Completion of the deal is expected at the end of June 2024.A CMS team headed by partners Jesko Nobiling and Dr Jörg Zätzsch advised Haufe Group on all legal and tax aspects of the transaction. Haufe Group regularly relies on advice from teams headed by the two CMS partners. Recent examples include the sale of its Umantis talent management business to Swiss software company Abacus Research AG and the sale of tax return start-up Steuerbot GmbH to Taxfix SE. CMS Germany Dr Jörg Zätzsch, Lead Partner, Corporate/M&A Jesko Nobiling, Lead Partner, Tax Dr Karsten Heider, Partner Dr Friedrich von Spee, Counsel Dr Kevin Schmidt, Senior As­so­ci­ate Madeline Göbel, Senior Associate Dr Maximilian Koch, Senior Associate Dr Sven Möller, Associate Nadine Fröhlich, Project Manager, all Corporate/M&A Mariya Ivanova, Senior As­so­ci­ate Al­ex­an­der Selentin, Associate, both Tax Dr Alexandra Otto, Partner Patricia Jares, Principal Counsel, both Labor, Employment & Pensions Dr Ole Jani, Partner Dr Huy Do Chi, Counsel, both IP Dr Rolf Hempel, Partner Martin Cholewa, Counsel, both Antitrust, Competition & Trade Prof. Malte Grützmacher, Partner Julia Bald, Associate, both TMC Dr Mirko Zorn, Principal Counsel, Real Estate & Public Birgit Wagner, Smart OperationsPress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com

Stuttgart, 19.06.2024 – The Sparkasse Münsterland Ost and Sparkasse Beckum-Wadersloh savings banks are set to merge with effect from 1 August 2024. The merger will create a single joint Sparkasse savings bank serving the city of Münster and the adjacent Warendorf district. This addition of around EUR 14 billion to its balance sheet will make Sparkasse Münsterland Ost one of the 20 largest of the around 350 Sparkasse savings banks in Germany. Merging the two savings banks is aimed at pooling their strengths and better meeting the needs of customers, the supervisory authorities and local government owners in a constantly changing financial environment. The link-up has already been approved by the relevant department of the North Rhine-West­phali­an Ministry of Finance, and merger control approval has been granted by the Federal Cartel Office (BKartA).A CMS team headed by lead partner Dr Harald Kahlenberg advised Sparkasse Münsterland Ost and Sparkasse Beckum-Wadersloh on all merger control aspects of the merger and on obtaining approval from the Federal Cartel Office. Dr Harald Kahlenberg and his team have been advising on savings bank mergers for many years. A number of specific questions arise from a merger control perspective, particularly in relation to the “regional principle”, which restricts the operations of savings banks to a specific area. Consolidation among savings banks has been ongoing for some years now and is likely to accelerate against a backdrop of digital transformation pressures and a significant skills shortage. Further mergers among savings banks are therefore to be expected. CMS Germany Dr Harald Kahlenberg, Lead Partner Dr Anne Gabius, Senior As­so­ci­ate An­gelika Wieczorkowski, Senior Associate, all Antitrust, Competition & TradePress Con­tact presse@cms-hs. com