CMS advises the Solar Group on its acquisition of a wholesale business in four jurisdictions

CMS has advised its longstanding client the Solar Group on a transaction involving the acquisition of four electrical wholesalers: Conelgro in the Netherlands, Claessen ELGB in Belgium and GFI in Germany and Austria, with an enterprise value of € 49 million. The acquired businesses employ in total over 500 employees out of 48 branches and outlets.

As a result of the acquisition, Solar has strengthened its market position in the Netherlands and Germany considerably, while also facing the positive prospect of access to two markets new to Solar, i.e. Belgium and Austria.

Through the acquisition, Solar expects to increase its revenues for 2011 by approximately € 54 million and EBITDA by approximately € 1.8 million.

Solar, headquartered in Kolding, Denmark, is one of Northern Europe's leading technical wholesalers of electrical, heating, plumbing and ventilation products with revenues equalling € 1.4 billion in 2010. Solar has approximately 3,500 employees with subsidiaries in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, The Faroe Islands, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden.

Corporate partner Roman Tarlavski of CMS Amsterdam, assisted by Arne van Bijnen, led the team comprising Martijn van der Bie, Christian Delgado and Irthe Goudriaan (Corporate), Robert Bosman and Annemieke Hazelhoff (Competition), Aysegul Avci (Employment), Paulus van den Bos (Pensions) and Sebastiaan Sellenraad (Real Estate) and involving lawyers from CMS offices in Stuttgart, Munich, Vienna and Brussels including Barbara Woessner, Martin Kolbinger, Anne Menckbach, Kai Neuhaus, Peter Huber, Clemens Grossmayer, Bernt Elsner, Vincent Dirckx and Nicolas van den Broek.