White & Case LLP has advised Duke Street, a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in European middle market companies, on the acquisition of A-ROSA Flussschiff GmbH (A-ROSA).

The seller is Waterland, an independent private equity investment company, and the parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction, Duke Street's second investment in Germany, is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities.

A-ROSA, based in Rostock in northern Germany and in Chur in Switzerland, is the market leader in the premium segment for river cruises on Europe's Danube, Rhine/Main/Mosel, Rhône/Saône and Seine rivers. The company was founded in 2001 as a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises and employs around 600 people. More than 85,000 passengers travelled on board A-ROSA cruises during 2017.

During 2016, a team led by White & Case partner Stefan Koch advised Duke Street on its first transaction in Germany, the takeover of Medi-Globe Corporation.

The White & Case team which advised on the transaction was led by partner Stefan Koch (Frankfurt) and included partners Florian Degenhardt (Hamburg), Norbert Wimmer (Berlin) and Justus Herrlinger (Hamburg), local partners Florian Ziegler (Frankfurt) and Veit Sahlfeld (Hamburg), counsel Christoph Arhold (Berlin) and associates Tomislav Vrabec, Hugo Schwarz Leite, Marco Stephan (all Frankfurt), Kathrin Ahting (Berlin), Daniel Valdini, Julia Cornelius (both Hamburg) and Andreas Kössel (Frankfurt). Lawyers from the White & Case office in Paris office also advised on the transaction.