Gleiss Lutz has advised listed Groupe SEB on the acquisition of WMF Group. The closing of the transaction is subject to merger control clearance. Groupe SEB will pay 1,020 million EUR in cash for the WMF Group and assume net debt in an amount of 565 million EUR. In addition, SEB takes over 125 million EUR of early retirement and pension liabilities.
WMF is a manufacturer of home appliances and hotel equipment, amongst others, cookware, kitchenware, cutlery, drinking glasses and professional coffee machines, including brands such as WMF, Silit, Kaiser, Schaerer and Hepp. The company, headquartered in Geislingen an der Steige, Germany, is represented in over 40 locations worldwide and operates nearly 200 retail shops in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
French Groupe SEB is a manufacturer of small appliances and kitchenware and is represented in over 120 countries worldwide. The group owns more than 1,000 active patents and launches over 200 new products a year. Brands include Tefal, Rowenta, Krups, Calor, Vogalu, Moulinex and Lagostina. The holding company SEB S.A. is listed in Paris and headquartered in Écully close to Lyon.
Gleiss Lutz acted as lead counsel on the deal, coordinating several other law firms in multiple jurisdictions.
The Gleiss Lutz team for SEB included: Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wegen, Dr. Jochen Tyrolt, Dr. Christian Cascante (all lead, Partner, Stuttgart), Dr. Carolin van Straelen (Munich), Dr. Nico Holtkamp, Dr. Jan Stenger, Lucie von Haller (all Stuttgart) (all Corporate/M&A), Dr. Thorsten Gayk (Counsel, Corporate Litigation, Hamburg), Dr. Martin Raible (Partner, Düsseldorf), Dr. Iris Benedikt-Buckenleib (Counsel), Dr. Cathrin Mächtle (both Munich) (all Merger Control), Dr. Herwig Lux (Counsel, IP/IT, Stuttgart), Dr. Philipp Naab (Counsel, Real Estate, Frankfurt), Dr. Jens Günther (Partner, Munich), Dr. Charlotte Beck (Berlin), Anna Frey (Munich) (all Employment Law), Dr. Achim Dannecker (Stuttgart), Dr. Stefan Mayer (both Partner), Dr. Ocka Stumm (all Frankfurt), Dr. Markus Risse (Stuttgart) (all Tax Law), Dr. Burkhard Jäkel, Dr. Eva Reudelhuber, Frank Schlobach (all Partner), Patrick Steinhausen (all Banking and Finance Law, Frankfurt), Dr. Jacob von Andreae (Partner, Düsseldorf), Dr. Katharina Lubitzsch (Berlin), (both Public Law), Dr. Eric Wagner (Partner), Anna Karpf (both Dispute Resolution, Stuttgart).
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