LAWFUEL – Europe Law & Business News – International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised private equity firm KKR and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners on the acquisition of Kion, the forklift truck division of Linde AG, for €4bn. The sale is subject to the approval of the competition authorities, and was conducted as an accelerated auction. This is the largest ever leveraged buyout in Germany.
The Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer team was led by Frankfurt corporate partners Andreas Fabritius and Nikolaus Reinhuber with Stephan Eilers in Cologne leading on the tax structuring. The team also included the following partners and principal consultant: Ulrike Schweibert (employment, pensions and benefits, Frankfurt), Laurie McFadden (corporate, London), Thomas Wessely (antitrust, competition and trade, Brussels), Frank Laudenklos and Konrad Schott (both finance, Frankfurt), Markus Fisseler (real estate, Frankfurt), Stefan Krüger (intellectual property/information technology, Frankfurt), Bertrand Pellet (corporate, Paris), Cyril Valentin (tax, Paris), Claude Stansbury (tax, Washington) and Ken Dierden (EPB, London). Senior associates involved included Heiner Braun (corporate, Frankfurt), Norbert Schneider (tax, Cologne), and Catherine McAllister (EPB, London).
