White & Case LLP advised Panasonic Corporation in its US$1.545 billion acquisition of Hussmann Corporation, a Missouri-based manufacturer of refrigerated display cases and systems.

Panasonic agreed with Hussmann Parent Inc., the parent company of Hussmann Corporation, and private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the representative of shareholders of Hussmann Parent, to buy 100% of the shares of Hussmann Parent. Hussmann Parent will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Panasonic. 

The acquisition, which is subject to approval from the competition authorities in the United States and other countries as required by law, will enable Panasonic to expand its food distribution-related business in the United States.

The White & Case team was led by partners Brian Strawn and Jun Usami in Tokyo and Gregory Pryor in New York and included partners J. William Dantzler Jr., Arlene Hahn, Henrik Patel and Steve Lutt (New York); Iker Arriola (Mexico City); Steve Vainder (Miami); Alex Zhang (Shanghai); and Rebecca Farrington, Noah Brumfield and Eileen Cole (Washington, DC). Lawyers from across 11 practice groups and eight White & Case offices, including Tokyo, New York, Brussels, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Shanghai and Washington, DC, worked on this transaction.