February 16, 2011 5:40 PM

Five Firms Advising on $2.6 Billion Süd-Chemie Sale

Posted by Brian Baxter

Swiss specialty chemicals manufacturer Clariant announced a $2.6 billion acquisition of German catalyst and absorbent maker Süd-Chemie on Wednesday. Three Am Law 100 firms and three of their European counterparts have landed key legal advisory roles on the deal.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom M&A partner Bernd Mayer and corporate counsel Frederick von Mallinckrodt in Munich are representing the family shareholders of Süd-Chemie, which is based in the Bavarian city. The company, which was founded in 1857, is also owned by One Equity Partners, a private equity affiliate of financial giant JPMorgan Chase.

One Equity owns slightly more than 50 percent of Süd-Chemie. German firm Hengeler Mueller and Swiss firm Baer & Karrer are advising One Equity on the sale of its stake in the company to Clariant. German legal publication Juve has the details on the lead lawyers working on the deal, the first major acquisition by Clariant in a decade, according to Swiss news services.

Hengeler Mueller M&A partners Maximilian Schiessl and Bernd Wirbel, corporate partners Oliver Rieckers and Stefan Richter, and antitrust partner Thorsten Mäger are advising One Equity, along with M&A partners Felix Ehrat and Ralph Malacrida from Baer & Karrer. Süd-Chemie's general counsel is Ulrich Mueller.

Markus Hauptmann, regional practice head of White & Case's German operations, is leading a team from the firm advising Clariant. Hauptmann is being assisted by M&A partner Axel Pajunk, tax partner Josef Honebrink, antitrust partner Börries Ahrens, capital markets partners Tobias Heinrich and Matthias Kiesewetter, banking and finance partner Sebastian Glock, and corporate partners Alexander Kiefner, Bernd Nelissen, and Michael Müller.

M&A partners Frank Gerhard and David Oser from Swiss firm Homburger in Zurich are also advising Clariant on the Süd-Chemie acquisition. Clariant is based in Muttenz, near the Swiss city of Basel. The company's top in-house lawyer is Alfred Münch.

Several companies vied with Clariant to acquire Süd-Chemie. In January it was reported that One Equity had lined up four bidders--including U.S. conglomerate Honeywell and Belgian battery materials maker Umicore--for its majority stake in the company. Juve reports that Jones Day advised Mitsui Chemicals, one of Japan's largest petrochemical producers, on its ultimately unsuccessful bid for Süd-Chemie.

Clariant's acquisition of Süd-Chemie is expected to close in the first half of 2011.

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