Noerr is advising the Schwarz Group on its intended takeover and potential entrance into a strategic partnership with the French Suez Group in the waste disposal and recycling business.
PreZero, which operates as Schwarz Group’s environment division, has entered into an agreement with Suez regarding the purchase of SUEZ’s waste management and recycling business in Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The parties have also agreed to evaluate the chances of a strategic partnership.
The transaction is subject to the approval of the employee representation bodies and clearance by the relevant antitrust authorities. Closing is expected to take place in the first half of 2021.
The agreement for the partial takeover of the waste management business of Suez, an international group of companies headquartered in Paris, includes the operations in the four countries with a 2019 turnover of around EUR 1.11 billion and a company valuation of EUR 1.1 billion. Suez employs around 6,700 people in these four markets. The plastics recycling and disposal of hazardous/special waste divisions are not included in the deal.
After completion of the transaction, PreZero will have an additional workforce of around 1,700 in Germany. In total, the group will then employ around 10,300 people in Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, and the USA.
Noerr's team was led by German Partners Gerald Reger, Maurice Seche, and Susanne Rummel, and included well over 48 lawyers in Germany alone. In addition, the firm's team included Poland-based Partner Ludomir Biedecki and lawyers Aleksandra Drozdz, Jaroslaw Karlikowski, Joanna Kuc, Mateusz Slodczyk, Justyna Solarska, Marek Solarski, Joanna Szacinska, Sylwia Urbanska, Wojciech Wasowicz, and Piotr Zabkiewicz.
Other firms working on the deal included NautaDutilh in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, as well as Jeantet in France.
