DLA Piper has advised the Saudi-Arabian Alfanar Group on the acquisition of the German electrical goods manufacturer Heinrich Kopp. The seller was the Luxembourg private-equity firm Palero invest.

Alfanar is one of the world's largest manufacturers of electrical engineering products with approximately 22,000 employees. Most recently, the group generated revenues of $2.5 billion. The acquisition of Heinrich Koch is their first investment within the European Union. The German-based electronics manufacturer Heinrich Kopp, which supplies nearly all retail stores in Austria, was taken over by the US group Actuant in 2011.

The DLA Piper team was led by Corporate partner Christoph Mager, and included partner Stephan Nitzl (Employment law), senior associate  Suzy Park,  and senior lead lawyer Johanna Höltl (both corporate, all Vienna).

"Strong local networks are a major competitive advantage, particularly in transactions related to the Middle East. Thanks to the connection of our French colleagues into Tunisia, as well as the expertise of our new office in Casablanca, we were able to advise the client comprehensively and to their complete satisfaction", said Christoph Mager, partner and Head of the Corporate practice in the Viennese DLA Piper office.