DLA Piper advised ALBIS PLASTIC GmbH on the establishment of a joint venture in the US with William Barnet & Son, LLC, a company specialising in the production, recycling and trade of fibres, yarns and plastics. The joint venture based in Duncan, South Carolina, to which William Barnet & Son contributed their existing recycled polymers business, will trade as ALBIS Barnet Polymers LLC.
ALBIS PLASTIC holds the majority interest in the new company, which has a production capacity of 30,000 tonnes. As part of the transaction, ALBIS PLASTIC also acquires the existing recycled polymers business from Barnet Europe, which includes production sites in Obernburg, Germany, and Humenné, Slovakia. Through this acquisition, ALBIS PLASTIC will expand its production capacities in Europe by 15,000 tonnes per annum. ALBIS PLASTIC Corp. in the US also plans on building a new plant for technical compounds, alongside the joint venture production facility in Duncan, which will have an annual capacity of 15,000 tonnes.
ALBIS PLASTIC GmbH is part of the Hamburg-based OTTO KRAHN group of companies, which distributes thermoplastic substances and represents the leading European manufacturers and brands with one of the most comprehensive plastics portfolios worldwide. Simultaneously it develops and produces its own, highly specialised technical compounds.
Commenting on the transaction, Kerstin Müller-Kirchhofs, Chief Financial Officer at ALBIS PLASTIC, said: “We wish to thank DLA Piper for their professional support in the course of this project. Benjamin Parameswaran's team made a decisive contribution to the success of this strategic cross-border transaction."
The international DLA Piper team led by partner Dr Benjamin Parameswaran and senior associate Sebastian Decker (both Corporate, Hamburg), also comprised partners Dr Konrad Rohde (Tax, Frankfurt) and Dr Thilo von Bodungen (IPT, Munich), counsels Cristina Helena Villafrade (Corporate, Hamburg), Dr Björn Enders (Tax, Frankfurt), Dr Thilo Streit and Guido Kleve (both Lit&Reg, Cologne), senior associates Dr Henriette Norda (Employment, Hamburg) and Sarah Oelsner (Real Estate, Munich), as well as associate Olga Blaszczyk (IPT, Munich).
In the US, the DLA Piper team comprised partners Joseph Silver (Corporate, Atlanta), Anil John Kalia (Tax, Silicon Valley) and Jamie Konn (Employment, Atlanta), as well as the associates Jeffrey Friedman, Jeremy Corcoran (both Corporate), Kathryn Hauch (Real Estate) and James Rusert (Employment, all Atlanta).
Further assistance was provided from DLA Piper's Slovakian office by partner Michaela Stessl, senior associates Eva Skottke and Sylvia Vanekova, associate Jan Farbiak, junior associates Lucia Holotova and Andrej Liska (all Corporate, Bratislava). Finally, support was provided from the firm's Spanish and Belgian offices by partner Miguel Baz (Tax, Madrid) and lead lawyer Gregory Komlosi (Tax, Brussels).
The inhouse legal team of ALBIS PLASTIC was led by Fabian Maerz, Director Tax&Legal.
