Frankfurt, 9 April 2013. Linklaters has advised the Hanau-based precious metal and technology group Heraeus on the sale of its entire dental business to the Japanese Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (MCI), Tokyo, a listed chemicals group with more than 13,300 employees worldwide. The transaction is still subject to the approval of the competent antitrust authorities.
The sold business group ranks among the leading providers of aesthetic dental solutions and specialised dental materials. It offers an extensive range of products to dental laboratories and dentists for the areas of aesthetic, conservative and digital dentistry as well as parodontology. Heraeus Dental has a total of around 1,400 employees at 20 locations worldwide, of which 685 are employed in Germany. Last year’s product revenue amounted to approximately 360 million euros.
The introduction of new materials and treatments has fundamentally changed the Heraeus Dental business in recent years. In particular, the use of precious metals products, Heraeus’ traditional core business, has dropped considerably in dental medicine. Due to efficiency measures recently introduced throughout the business group and the expansion of its digital prosthetics business, Heraeus Dental is well positioned for further profitable growth in the future. This is particularly the case because the entire management stays with the company. The headquarters of Heraeus Dental will remain in Hanau, a reduction of staff is not planned. This provides MCI with a good basis for a further development of the business in the long term.
Heraeus’ broadly developed business programme offers a number of promising opportunities and options for future growth in attractive markets and regions. The sale of its dental business allows the group to focus even better and in a more targeted way on these growth opportunities.
A Linklaters team led by Stephan Oppenhoff and Ann-Catherine Hoffmann (Corporate, Frankfurt) advised on the transaction. Other team members included Dr Jochen Laufersweiler (Corporate, Frankfurt), Florian Lechner (Tax, Frankfurt), Dr Rupert Bellinghausen (Medical Law, Frankfurt), Matthew Devey (Employment, Frankfurt), Dr Daniela Seeliger (Competition/Antitrust, Düsseldorf), Dr Konrad Berger (TMT, Munich), Thomas Bader (Employment, Munich), Fabian Liepe (Corporate, Frankfurt), Dr Daniel Pauly (TMT, Frankfurt), Dr Ingo Klauß (Competition/Antitrust, Düsseldorf), Dr Mathias Bock, Levin-Friedrich von Bismarck, Maria Busch (all Corporate, Frankfurt), Thomas Bernard (Tax, Frankfurt), Stefan Schrewe und Séverine Löw (both Corporate, Frankfurt).
http://www.linklaters.com/News/LatestDeals/2013/Pages/Linklaters-advise…
