Schoenherr has advised Herba Chemosan Apotheker and its management board on the management buy-out of the company. Herbst Kinsky, working with Linklaters, advised previous majority shareholder McKesson Corporation on the sale of its Austrian business to Quadrifolia Management through the MBO. SCWP Schindhelm has advised private equity company Invest AG on participating in the acquisition. Wolf Theiss advised the financing banks led by Raiffeisen Banking Group Upper Austria.
"In the course of the MBO, the previous majority shareholder of Herba Chemosan, McKesson Europe, is withdrawing from the Austrian market and the three board members of the Austrian pharmaceutical wholesaler are taking over the majority of the company," Schoenherr announced. "A joint company consisting of the management board members – Andreas Windischbauer, Andreas Janka, and Maximilian von Kunsberg Sarre – and private equity company Invest AG acquired the shareholding from McKesson."
According to Linklaters, "the transaction was successfully completed on January 31, 2022, and marks another milestone for McKesson to streamline their portfolio and to implement their strategy to exit the European market. In this context, McKesson has agreed to sell most of its business in Europe last year and is currently examining suitable exit alternatives for its businesses in Norway and Denmark."
Founded in 1916, Herba Chemosan is an Austrian pharmaceutical wholesaler and service provider. With seven logistics centers throughout Austria, Herba Chemosan operates a distribution network for pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. Together with its subsidiaries Sanova and Aewige, Herba Chemosan employs around 900 people.
The McKesson Corporation is a US-based company specializing in healthcare supply chain management solutions and retail pharmacy.
Invest AG is an Austrian investment company.
The Schoenherr team was led by Partner Thomas Wenger and Attorney-at-Law Sigrun Adrian-Waltner and included Partners Hanno Wollmann, Martin Ebner, and Peter Feyl, Attorneys-at-law Evelin Hlina and Mate Kovacs, and Associates Viktoria Stark and Eugen Georg Maresch.
The Herbst Kinsky team was led by Attorney-at-Law Phillip Dubsky and included Attorney-at-Law Sonja Hebenstreit and Associates Georg Durstberger, Carmen Walser, and Angelika Kurz.
The SCWP Schindhelm team was led by Partner Franz Mittendorfer and included Partner Sebastian Hutter and Lawyers Dieter Duursma and Thomas Rosenthaler.
The Wolf Theiss team was led by Partner Andreas Schmid and included Partners Hartwig Kienast, Gunter Bauer, Karl Binder, and Leopold Hoeher, Counsels Christine Siegl, Eva Stadler, and Paulina Pomorski, Senior Associate Markus Aigner, and Associate Carolina Weber.
The Linklaters team was led by Frankfurt-based Partner Jochen Laufersweiler and Managing Associate Andrea Pecina and included Partners Michael Leicht and Christian Hundeshagen, Managing Associates Atif Wolfgang Bhatti and Sascha Konwalski, and Associates Tillmann Schoeller, Johannes Thieme, and Julia Grimm as well as Dusseldorf-based Partner Daniela Seeliger and Managing Associate Tobias Rump and Hamburg-based Managing Associate Tim Nobereit.
