21 October 2004 LAWFUEL – Law, legal, attorney, law firm newsDLA acted as legal adviser to Nuplex Industries Limited in relation to its
EUR110 million offer to buy the Coatings Resins (CR) business of Akzo Nobel
N.V.
The DLA team was led by corporate partners Robert Bishop (London) and
Barbara van Hussen (Amsterdam), who were assisted by associates Graham Cross
(London) and Daphne Bens (Amsterdam). Other members of the team included
Amsterdam partner Martijn Koopal (banking) and London partners Michael
Cowley (pensions) and Tony Leek (real estate).
The transaction involved 17 different jurisdictions, with DLA lawyers
providing local advice in the Netherlands, the UK, Singapore, Thailand, Hong
Kong, The People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Germany, Italy
and Spain. Piper Rudnick provided US and French law advice and Phillips
Fox, Nuplex’s domestic legal advisers, handled issues in Australia and New
Zealand.
CR, headquartered in Bergen op Zoom (Netherlands), is a global manufacturer
and recognized technology leader in the development, manufacture and
marketing of high performance resins for coatings. CR is a well established
solution provider to the largest coating manufacturers in the world and has
a presence in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The CR business employs 774
people, of which 355 are located in the Netherlands.
The acquisition will transform Nuplex, which has a dual listing on the
Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges, from an Australasia/Asia
regional business into a global manufacturing and marketing group with sales
well in excess of NZ$1 billion.
John Hirst, managing director of Nuplex, said: “I would like to thank and
congratulate the DLA team. It is not often that one is privileged to work
with such highly competent people who are totally committed to your outcome,
and also take an interest in fitting with your culture and style.”
Robert Bishop commented: “This transaction was a referral from Phillips Fox,
our focus firm in Australia and New Zealand. We were delighted to be given
the opportunity to act for Nuplex on a deal that suits our strengths so well
– dealing seamlessly with complx issues across multiple jurisdictions. We
look forward to continuing to advise Nuplex as it becomes a global
undertaking.”
Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions
precedent.
