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Dentons and Wolf Theiss Advise on Sale of Scitec Nutrition by Enterprise Investors to Ascendis Health

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Dentons has advised Polish Enterprise Fund VII, a private equity fund managed by Enterprise Investors, on the EUR 170 million sale of a 100% stake in the Scitec Nutrition sports nutrition producer, to Ascendis Health, a South African publicity listed health and care brands company. Ascendis Health was advised by Wolf Theiss.

According to Dentons, "this transaction involved cross-border representation for EI in various European jurisdictions as well as South Africa. The team also represented EI during its original investment in Scitec in 2012."

The Dentons team was led by Partner Edward Keller.

According to Wolf Theiss, "this acquisition is one of the most visible private transactions in the CEE region this year. The cross-border deal, which was one of the first acquisitions for the South African buyer in the CEE region, concerned more than a dozen European jurisdictions. The legal review, apart from the traditional legal fields, extended to food and health safety regulations in each of these jurisdictions. Also, given the worldwide presence of the target as well as the extended investment portfolio of the buyer, the merger control and regulatory compliance analysis extended to more than 50 jurisdictions across the globe."

Wolf Theiss also describes the transaction as "particularly unique," as "Ascendis has raised completion funds by way of a 1.2 billion ZAR (South African Rand) rights offering and vendor consideration placement on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. This complexity required detailed legal analysis and drafting in the transaction documents, as well as advising on aspects of underwriting agreements with Absa Bank and HSBC Bank to underwrite any shares not subscribed for."

The Wolf Theiss transaction team was led by Partners Janos Toth (in Hungary) and Richard Clegg (in Bulgaria), supported by Budapest-based Senior Associate Melinda Pelikan. The team in Hungary consisted of Associates Mark Chiovini, Zoltan Bodog, Peter Ihasz, Eniko Lukacs, and Zoltan Banki. Warsaw-based Senior Associate Dariusz Harbaty and Sofia-based Associate Nikoleta Ratcheva assisted on transactional matters, Vienna-based Associate Paul Hesse advised on competition matters, and Vienna-based Partner Georg Kresbach advised on intellectual property matters.

Editor's Note: This article was revised after publication to incorporate updated information about the deal and the Wolf Theiss team working on the matter.

Image Source: scitec-nutrition.sk

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