A Gleiss Lutz team has advised Deutsche Post DHL Group (“DPDHL") in connection with an agreement to acquire up to 100 percent of J.F. Hillebrand Group AG (“Hillebrand") and its subsidiaries for approximately EUR 1.5 billion. Closing of the transaction is subject to the customary regulatory clearances.
The strategic acquisition strengthens DPDHL's position in the dynamic sea freight forwarding market, its commitment to the rapidly growing liquid bulk market and its focus on its core logistics business. In addition, the companies are pursuing a joint digital agenda based on the myDHLi platform and the Hillebrand Group's industry-leading customer management tools.
Deutsche Post DHL Group combines the two brands DHL and Deutsche Post. DHL offers a comprehensive service portfolio of parcel shipping, international express shipping, freight transport, supply chain management and e-commerce solutions, while Deutsche Post is Europe's leading mail and parcel service provider. The group, which employs around 570,000 people in more than 220 countries, generated sales of more than EUR 66 billion in 2020.
Hillebrand is a global service provider specialising in ocean freight forwarding, primarily transporting beverages, non-hazardous liquid bulk and other products whose transportation requires special care. The group has more than 2,700 employees worldwide. Hillebrand generated sales of around EUR 1.4 billion in the last twelve months and expects to transport around TEU 500,000 in 2021.
The following Gleiss Lutz team advised DPDHL on the transaction: Dr Cornelia Topf, Dr Andreas Löhdefink (both partners, both lead), Dr Christoph Auchter, Dr Maximilian Hirsch, Kevin Löffler, Nina Ahlert (all M&A), Dr Alexander Fritzsche (partner, Competition/Antitrust, all Frankfurt), Kristina Winkelmann, Christian Weinmann (both Competition/Antitrust, Brussels), Prof Dr Eric Wagner (partner), Dr Simon Wagner (counsel), Sophie Römer, Dr Britta Kamp (all Commercial Contracts/Logistics, Stuttgart), Dr Thomas Winzer (partner), Dr Tobias Abend (counsel, both Employment, all Frankfurt), Dr Stefan Weidert (partner, IP/IT, Berlin), Dr Jacob von Andreae, Dr Burghard Hildebrandt (both partners, both Düsseldorf), Dr Marc Ruttloff (partner, Stuttgart), Aylin Hoffs, Tatjana Schmidt, Matthias Hahn (all Düsseldorf), Linda Rampf, Lisa Freihoff (both Stuttgart, all Public Business Law), Dr Eike Bicker (partner), Caroline Saalwächter-Hirsch (both Compliance, Frankfurt), Dr Johann Wagner (partner, Hamburg), Dr Stefan Mayer (partner, both Tax), Dr Burkhard Jäkel (partner), Vanessa Bayliss (counsel) Dr Timo Bühler (counsel, all Finance, all Frankfurt) and Simon Clemens Wegmann (Data Protection, Berlin).
The Gleiss Lutz team was assisted by law firms of the international Gleiss Lutz network in 27 countries worldwide.
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