Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (Freshfields) advises HOCHTIEF AG (HOCHTIEF) on its intended takeover of Abertis Infraestructuras, S.A. (Abertis).
The transaction is intended to be implemented by way of a voluntary takeover offer to the Abertis shareholders. The offer made by HOCHTIEF consists of a combination of a cash payment and the exchange of Abertis shares into HOCHTIEF shares, and provides for a total consideration in a double-digit billion amount.
The merger of the globally operating German infrastructure developer HOCHTIEF with the globally operating Spanish infrastructure operator Abertis is intended to create a globally leading infrastructure company. The combined company is expected to benefit from considerable synergies due to complementing business activities.
The offer made by HOCHTIEF is still subject to approval by the Spanish authorities. It is also subject to a minimum level of acceptance by the shareholders of Abertis and to approvals by other authorities. The combination of HOCHTIEF and Abertis would be one of the largest public takeovers of a foreign company by a German group so far.
The takeover offer made by HOCHTIEF for Abertis competes with the already published offer made by Italian-based Atlantia, S.p.A. It is the first major competing takeover offer made in Spain for more than 10 years.
The international Freshfields team with lawyers from the Munich, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Madrid, Paris, London, New York and Washington D.C. offices is led by Dr Kai Hasselbach (Corporate/M&A, Munich), Dr Christoph Gleske (Finance, Frankfurt) and Armando Albarrán (M&A, Madrid) and includes, among others, Dr Ralph Kogge, Dr Simon Schwarz, Judit Gajdics, Dr Michael Schweppe, Dr Dörthe Imberg, David Rauch, Moritz von Nathusius, Dr Mauritz Mann, Matthias Döll, Michael Hendricks (all Corporate/M&A in Munich, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf), Javier Monzón, Alfonso de Marcos, Carla Gómez, Reka Palla, Pablo Falcón, Juan Barrios (all Corporate/M&A in Madrid), Dr Mario Hüther, Dr Michael Josenhans, Mark Strauch, Christina Zapf, Dr Andreas Thümmler, Dr Mauritz Mann, Ana Lopez, Isabel Villa (all Banking and Finance in Frankfurt and Madrid), Dr Ulrich Scholz, Alvaro Iza, Olivia Hagger (all Antitrust, Competition and Trade, Düsseldorf, Madrid and London), Dr Juliane Hilf, Dr Tristan Kalenborn, Ignacio Borrego, Ana Calvo (all Environmental, Planning and Regulatory, Düsseldorf and Madrid) as well as Dr Norbert Schneider, Silvia Paternain, Dr Magnus Bleifeld, Dr Philipp Redeker and Maria Mera (all Tax, Düsseldorf and Madrid).
