Eversheds Germany has advised Chemtura on the German aspects of its takeover by Lanxess, the biggest acquisition in the history of the specialty chemicals company.
The transaction, with an enterprise value of approximately €2.4 billion, is mainly financed by Lanxess on enterprise and hybrid bonds. Lanxess is one of the largest global suppliers of flame and lubricant additives and the takeover will significantly expand Chemtura’s business in North America.
Shareholders of Chemtura, the specialty chemicals group will pay $33.50 per Lanxess AG share in cash, a premium of 18.9 per cent as measured by the closing price of the September 23, 2016 of $28.18. The transaction is expected to close on the second quarter of 2017.
Chemtura is a major global supplier of high quality flame retardant and lubricant additives. The US company employs approximately 2,500 employees and operates in 20 locations in 11 countries. In the last four quarters, the listed group generated sales of around €1.5 billion.
Lanxess achieved a turnover of €7.9 billion in 2015 and currently employs approximately 16,700 people in 29 countries. The company, listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, is currently at 55 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacture and distribution of chemical intermediates and specialty chemicals and plastics.
The advice from Eversheds Germany included capital market law and tax law. In addition, the German team advised on corporate matters.
The Eversheds team was led by German partners, Dr. Matthias Heisse (corporate / M & A) and Dr. Stefan Diemer (tax), assisted by Wolfgang Troidl (associate, corporate / M & A, all Munich). International Eversheds colleagues involved were: Robin Johnson (lead partner, corporate / M & A, UK), Joanne Hyde (partner, employment, UK), Phillip Tunney (partner, regulatory, UK) and Stephen Rose (partner, antitrust and EU regulation, UK).
Dr. Matthias Heisse comments:
“This deal highlighted the advantage of Eversheds’ M&A team’s cross-border expertise as this was a key element in the success of the deal. This takeover facilitates an important strategic move for the group and we look forward to supporting them in ongoing operations.”
Eversheds regularly advises clients in the chemical sector. The firm was lead counsel on Chemtura’s sale of agrochemicals division (Chemtura AgroSolutions) to US group Platform Specialty Products Corporation for $1bn. Eversheds has also advised DuPont on the European aspects of its proposed global disposal of DuPont Performance Coatings (DPC) to The Carlyle Group for $4.9 billion.
