Watson, Farley & Williams (“WFW”), a leading international law firm, is pleased to announce that it has advised Chemring Group (“Chemring”) on the sale of Chemring Defence Germany GmbH to the Drew Marine Group.

WFW advised Chemring, a leading producer of pyrotechnic products for the military and non-military purposes and/or contractors, on corporate, employment and tax law as well as regulatory matters. The transaction has already been approved by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and granted anti-trust clearance. Both sides agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

With this latest divesture Chemring no longer maintains any holdings in the German market. Already in June 2012, WFW advised Chemring on the divestment and the subsequent sale of its marine business unit, also to the Drew Marine Group, a leading international service and product supplier for the shipping industry.

The WFW team was led by Munich partner Dr. Dirk Janssen (Corporate). He was supported by partners Dr. Ahmad Khonsari (Corporate, Munich), Anne Kleffmann (Employment, Munich), Verena Scheibe (Tax, Hamburg) and Dr. Christine Bader (Regulatory, Hamburg). Associates JUDr. Zuzana Meinecke Fábry, Dr. Silke Pütz, Barbara Zehnder (all Corporate, Munich), Florian Leonhard (Corporate, Hamburg) and Philip Groth (Employment, Munich) also advised on the deal. 

The seller was advised by Jones Day and Mayer Brown.

The WFW Munich partner Dr. Dirk Janssen, who first advised Chemring in 2005 on the acquisition of Chemring Defence Germany (formerly Comet Pyrotechnik Apparatebau GmbH) and since then has continued to advise all German Chemring companies, commented: “We are delighted to have advised Chemring anew on a further significant transaction. The longstanding and trusted cooperation with Chemring’s in-house team resulted in a very efficient and successful closing of this transaction.”