Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati has advised Fosun Industrial Holdings Limited, a private Chinese corporate conglomerate, on its takeover of the Wolford AG textile group, which is headquartered in Vorarlberg, Austria. Wolford AG was represented by Weber & Co and the selling core shareholder group was advised by Kuhn Rechtsanwalte.
The purchase price of the 50.87% stake acquired by Fosun International from current core shareholders – mainly foundations, companies, and members of the Wilhelm and Palmers families – was EUR 32.6 million -- approximately EUR 12.80 per share. The transaction, which was signed on March 1, 2018, will also entail a public tender offer and is expected to close in spring 2018 following the expected approval of the cartel authorities.
In addition, Fosun announced its intention to launch a public tender offer for the acquisition of up to all remaining shares in Wolford. Moreover, a capital increase in the amount of EUR 22 million is envisaged to strengthen Wolford's financial structure; requiring approval of the annual general meeting, which will take place on the day of closing of the purchase agreement, envisaged for May 2018.
In the course of the transaction, CHSH was responsible for corporate, capital markets and takeover law structuring, due diligence review, contract negotiations, merger control filing, regulatory announcements and notifications as well as the preparation of the public takeover offer. The firm's team included Partners Clemens Hasenauer and Harald Stingl, Volker Glas, and Mark Krenn, Senior Associates Lorenz Pracht, Christopher Peitsch, Katharina Majchrzak, and Ana Feiler, Associates Alexander Reich-Rohrwig, Benedikt Svoboda, and Ferdinand Guggenmos, and Counsel Michael Mayer.
Weber & Co’s team included Partners Stefan Weber and Christoph Moser and Associates Yvonne Gutsohn, Clemens Nostler, and Angelika Fischer.
Kuhn Rechtsanwalte did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.
