CMS advises Unipapel on binding offer for cross-border acquisition

CMS has advised Unipapel on its irrevocable offer to acquire the Spicers group of companies from FTSE 250 company, DS Smith, for approximately £200 million (€222 million) together with its simultaneous back-to-back arrangement to sell Spicers' UK and Ireland business units to private equity fund Better Capital for approximately £32 million (€35.5 million). This offer is conditional on French works council approval.

Spicers is a leading pan-European office products wholesaling business, operating across a network of 21 distribution centres in seven European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the UK. As Spain's largest maker and distributor of paper products, the acquisition of Spicers' Continental European business units will enable the Unipapel group to become the leader in the European office supplies.

CMS provided advice on all relevant aspects of this cross-border acquisition from the seven countries mentioned. From the Netherlands advice was provided by Reinout Slot, Laurens Dalmijn and Irthe Goudriaan (Corporate), Paulus van den Bos and Simon Hardonk (Pensions), Katja van Kranenburg, Aysegül Avci, Barbara Veldmaat and Fleur van Assendelft de Coningh (Employment law), Bas Baks (Insurance law), Steffen Hagen (IP/IT), Jochem de Koning (Tax) and Sebastiaan Sellenraad (Real Estate).