Managing Risk

"The shareholder base of the holding platform was diverse and spread across several countries. This was a fast-moving, multijurisdictional deal requiring support from CMS teams in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland."
ANNA BURCHNER 
Partner Tax CMS London

A cross-border CMS team advised a private equity fund on  the tax aspect of its acquisition of a US software company.  This is a continuation of work that began with the client in 2016.  At that time, we advised on the acquisition of another European software group and created a tax-effective Dutch holding / joint venture platform. 

In the current transaction, a majority stake in the target company was acquired through the previously established Dutch holding structure. We also advised on the tax aspects of the financing and transactional documents. 

CMS London partner Anna Burchner said, “The shareholder base of the holding platform was diverse and  spread across several countries. This  was a fast-moving, multijurisdictional deal requiring support from CMS teams in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.” 

She added, “The original structure  was based on loan notes but this was turned into an equity structure for the current transaction. Since the start  of the initial deal, we have had to contend with numerous twists and turns including referendums in the UK and Switzerland and significant changes to Dutch tax rules.”