Baker & McKenzie advised the Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos on its sale of Hilge KG to the GEA Group. The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authoritiesBaker & McKenzie advised Grundfos on all contract negotiations and on all legal aspects of the transaction. Part of the negotiations included the transition of long standing employees of Grundfos who were responsible for the Hilge production to the GEA Group. The Berdelle-Hilge Foundation will continue as minority owners of the Hilge KG also after the transaction.
Grundfos is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of pumps and pump systems with over 80 subsidiaries. Additionally regional and local dependences supplement the distribution and service organization. The company headquartered in Bjerringbro/Dänemark achieved a global revenue of approximately 3.1 million. Euro in 2014 with 17.000 employees.
"In close collaboration with our client we were able close the negotiations seamlessly in consideration of all relevant jurisdictions. With this successful transaction our client can now further concentrate on its strategic goal - the distribution of pumps and pump systems beyond the sanitary sector“, comments Dr. Thomas Gilles, M&A/Corporate partner at Baker & McKenzie in Frankfurt.
Hilge was acquired by the Grundfos Group in 2004. The plant in Bodenheim produces high-quality stainless steel pumps for the food and beverage, pharmaceutical and biochemical sectors developing and supplying innovative, intelligent pumping systems to meet the technological requirements of customers’ processes, focusing on top quality, product safety, optimized materials and technical efficiency.
Baker & McKenzie's Corporate/M&A team regularly advises strategic investors on cross border transactions and restructurings. Most recently, Baker & McKenzie advised ZF Friedrichshafen on acquisition of large gear division from Bosch Rexroth, Group Le Duff on the purchase of Kamps, Flowserve Corporation on the acquisition of SIHI-Group as well as Heidelberger Druckmaschinen on the sale of its Postpress Packaging Business to Masterwork Machinery Co.
Legal Team:
Lead:
M&A/Corporate: Dr. Thomas Gilles (partner, Frankfurt)
Team:
M&A/Corporate: Christian Atzler (partner, Frankfurt), Markus Mörtel, (associate, Frankfurt), Anna Ma (associate, Frankfurt), Dr. Rebecka Zinser (associate, Frankfurt)
Employment: Dr. Hagen Köckeritz (partner, Frankfurt), Henrik Lüthge (associate, Düsseldorf)
IT: Dr. Holger Lutz (partner, Frankfurt)
Tax: Sonja Klein (partner, Frankfurt)
Commercial: Dr. Johannes Teichmann (senior associate, Frankfurt), Antonia Rojahn (associate, München)
Antitrust & Trade: Sarwenaz Kiani (senior associate, London)
In-house Grundfos:
Andreas Brandt (GC), Troels Johannsen
