Baker McKenzie advised the automotive supplier Presswerk Krefeld on the acquisition of the business units of IBEX Automotive GmbH and the Kunze GmbH brothers out of insolvency. Sellers were the insolvency administrators RA Rüdiger Wienberg (for Gebrüder Kunze GmbH) and RA Kai Dellit (for Ibex Automotive GmbH) of hww. The parties agreed not to disclose the value of the transaction.
The purchase was structured as an auction process. Baker McKenzie advised Presswerk Krefeld on all the legal aspects of the complex transaction. At the same time, US parent MacLean-Fogg Company sold its shares of Presswerk Krefeld as part of a management buy-out to HANNOVER Finanz as a new equity investor and majority shareholder. All aforementioned transactions are subject to antitrust approval.
"Linking the transaction out of insolvency to the management buy-out was an exciting task for all parties involved and we successfully handled this in close cooperation with our client," commented Christian Atzler of Baker McKenzie, the lead partner of the transaction.
Presswerk Krefeld (PWK) is a leading supplier of high-tech linkage and chassis components for the automotive industry. PWK was a legally independent subsidiary of MacLean-Fogg Company since 2004.
At its three Saxon locations in Gelenau, Zittau and Schönbrunn, the Kunze Group produces safety-relevant parts for the automotive industry, which are used in brake, chassis and climate systems. Customers are Tier 1 suppliers to the automotive and commercial vehicle industry. Technological characteristics and outstanding competitive advantage is the combination of the production technologies cold-flow presses and machining.
The Corporate/M&A team of Baker & McKenzie regularly advises clients on cross-border transactions and reorganizations. Most recently Baker & McKenzie advised BizLink Holding Inc. on its acquisition of the Electrical Appliance Assemblies business of Leoni AG, Heraeus Group on the sale of the global high-performance target materials business to the US-based Materion Group, MAGNA International on its acquisition of the BÖCO Group, ZF Friedrichshafen AG on the sale of the Cherry Group, Dassault Systèmes on the acquisition of the CST group, Sulzer on the takeover of the GEKA group of 3i, Allegion on the acquisition of Trelock, RWE and E.ON on the sale of their shares in the Luxembourg energy supplier Enovos, HITACHI Koki on the acquisition of Metabo AG and Barry-Wehmiller group on the acquisition of the operations of Winkler+Dünnebier GmbH.
Legal advisors to Presswerk Krefeld:
Baker McKenzie
Lead: Corporate/M&A: Christian Atzler (partner, Frankfurt)
Team: Corporate/M&A: Dr. Thomas Gilles (partner, Frankfurt), Dr Holger Ellers (partner, Berlin), Dr. Rebecka Ringnalda (associate, Frankfurt)
Competition: Christian Horstkotte (partner, Düsseldorf), Dr. Johannes Weichbrodt (associate, Düsseldorf)
Employment: Dr. Hagen Köckeritz (partner, Frankfurt), Dr. Verena Böhm (associate, Frankfurt)
Tax: Sonja Klein (partner, Frankfurt), Ariane Schaaf (associate, Frankfurt)
IT: Dr. Holger Lutz (Partner, Frankfurt)
IP: Dr. Benjamin Koch (partner, Munich)
