Baker & McKenzie advised Giesecke & Devrient on a joint venture with the Bundesdruckerei (Federal Printing Agency). With the new joint venture under the name Veridos GmbH, the partners are bundling their international business with solutions for secure identification, such as passport and ID card systems for governments. The new company is to be headquartered in Berlin. Bundesdruckerei and Giesecke & Devrient will, however, continue to independently pursue business in Germany, their business activities on the private sector market and in banknote printing.

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) will hold a 60 percent share in Veridos and 40 percent in Bundesdruckerei. In addition to its headquarters in Berlin, Veridos will also have an operating facility in Munich, a production site in Greece and other subsidiaries in Canada, Mexico and Brazil, and will operate independently on the international market. The supervisory bodies of both companies, the G&D shareholders and the Federal Ministry of Finance as owner of Bundesdruckerei, have all approved the establishment of this joint venture. Subject to approval under cartel law, Veridos will commence business operations in mid-2014.

G&D is a leading global technology provider with its headquarters in Munich, Germany, and with 58 subsidiaries, joint ventures, and associated companies in 32 countries across every continent. At the end of 2013, G&D had approximately 11,660 employees and in fiscal 2013 generated total sales of EUR1.75 billion, of which around 90 percent was earned outside Germany.

Baker & McKenzie's Corporate/M&A team regularly advises strategic investors on transactions and restructurings. Most recently, Baker & McKenzie advised HOCHTIEF on the restructuring of HOCHTIEF Solutions AG as well as on the spin-off of its Service Solutions division last year, the Swiss company Sulzer AG on the sale of its Metco Division to OC Oerlikon, Knorr-Bremse Systeme GmbH when buying two companies from the rail supply industry, MAHLE on the purchase of Behr, TVH when acquiring mateco as well as Karl Schlecht Foundation on the sale of Putzmeister.

Legal Advisor Giesecke & Devrient:
Baker & McKenzie

Lead:

Corporate/M&A: Dr. Jon Marcus Meese (partner, Munich)

Team: 

Corporate/M&A

Dr. Eva-Maria Worm (associate, Munich),Dr. Tino Marz (associate, Munich), Stefanie Tuma (associate, Munich)

Commercial

Dr. Johannes Teichmann (associate, Munchen)

Employment Law

Dr. Steffen Scheuer (partner, Munich), Katja Giese (associate, Munich)

Public Procurement Law

Dr. Marc Gabriel (partner, Berlin), Dr. Verena Bärenbrinker (associate, Berlin)

Tax:

Dr. Nobert Muckl (partner, Munich)

Giesecke & Devrient (In-house)

Dr. Reinhard Warmke, group vice president, head of Corporate Legal Services, Corporate Legal Services
Alexandra Baumgartner LL.M. (Univ. Georgia), senior legal counsel
Dr. Jutta Hausler, director and head of Employment Law/Industrial Relations, Corporate Human Resources
Dr. Stefanie Kainz, senior legal counsel, Corporate Human Resources