DLA Piper has advised Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG on its sale of L´Orange GmbH to Woodward Inc. Rolls-Royce plc. and Woodward Inc. jointly announced today that they have signed an agreement for Woodward to acquire L´Orange and all its operations located in Germany, the United States and China, for 700 million Euro enterprise value. L´Orange is part of Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both Rolls-Royce and Woodward Inc. as well as the Supervisory Board of Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG. The transaction is expected to be closed at the end of the second quarter 2018, subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

Rolls-Royce Power Systems, a division of Rolls-Royce plc., is a world leader in engines and propulsion systems and distributed power generation plants. Under the MTU brand, the company develops and produces high-speed engines and propulsion systems for ships, power generation and heavy land, rail and defence vehicles, as well as drive systems for use in the oil and gas industry. Rolls-Royce Power Systems is headquartered in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and employs over 10,000 people worldwide. L´Orange, based in Stuttgart, Germany, has approximately 1,000 employees mostly based in Germany, but also in the U.S. and China. L´Orange is one of the world's leading suppliers of electronically controlled high-pressure injection systems for industrial diesel, heavy fuel oil and dual-fuel engines.

The DLA Piper core team under the global lead of Hamburg-based partner Dr Benjamin Parameswaran also included partner Dr Daniel Weiß, counsel Sebastian Decker (all Corporate/M&A, Hamburg) and senior associate Olga Blaszcyk (Commercial, Munich). The team also comprised partners Dr Thilo von Bodungen (Commercial, Munich), Dr Kai Bodenstedt (Employment, Hamburg), Dr Konrad Rohde (Tax, Frankfurt), Dr Jan Joachim Dreyer (Antitrust) and Dr Andreas Meyer-Landrut (Corporate, both Cologne), counsel Dr Isaschar Nicolaysen (Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Sebastian Kost (Tax, Munich), Dr Annemarie Bloß (IPT), Dr Henriette Norda (Employment, both Hamburg), Dr Enno Ahlenstiel, Dr Thilo Streit (both Litigation & Regulatory, Cologne) and Bernd Siebers (IPT, Munich), senior associates Katharina Minski (Corporate/M&A, Hamburg) and Dr Constanze Krenz (IPT, both Munich) as well as associates Sophie von Mandelsloh, Diedrich Schröder (both Corporate/M&A), Nils Grunicke (Employment, all Hamburg), Dr Berit Geuenich-Schmitt (Litigation & Regulatory) and Hubertus Neu (Corporate, both Cologne). From the international DLA Piper offices were also involved Alexandra Kamerling (partner), Martin Strom (associate, both Litigation & Regulatory), Andrew Weil (partner, Corporate, Chicago) and Peng Tao (Legal Consultant, Tax, Hongkong).

The Rolls-Royce Power Systems in-house team was led by Ben Horsley (Chief Counsel M&A, Rolls-Royce plc) and Dr Thomas Karst (General Counsel, Chief Integrity & Compliance Officer, Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG).