Noerr has advised Aurelius Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA on the sale of Germany's Secop Group to Nidec at a valuation of EUR 185 million. The firm's team includes contributions from its Bratislava office on matters of Slovakian law. The transaction is subject to approval by antitrust authorities.
Noerr describes this as the largest exit in Aurelius's history, and reports that the exit allowed Aurelius to increase its invested capital around 11-fold, achieving a positive earnings impact of around EUR 100 million. Aurelius has proposed that the dividends to be announced in the upcoming general meeting be doubled.
Secop, which is headquartered in Flensburg, Germany and has production facilities in Austria, Slovakia, and China, is a global supplier of specialized compressors for refrigerators and freezers in the “Household” and “Light Commercial” segments. According to Noerr, "Secop Household division is a leading supplier of compressors for refrigerators and freezers in Europe," and "its Light Commercial division sells compressors for commercial use worldwide, such as frozen goods counters in supermarkets and hermetic compressors."
In 2010, Noerr reports, "Aurelius took over the household compressors division from the Danish Danfoss Group and turned it into a profitable high-tech niche supplier as a result of intensive operational measures."
The global Noerr team led by Christian Pleister included Bratislava-based Senior Associate Martin Tupek, who advised on Slovakian law.
Editor's Note: After this article was published, Wolf Theiss announced that it, working alongside Gleiss Lutz, had advised Nidec on Austrian and Slovakian law matters related to the acquisition. The Wolf Theiss team in Austria was led by Partner Hartwig Kienast and included Partners Gabriele Etzl and Gunter Bauer, Counsel Walter Poschl, Associates Lukas Pinegger, Julia Morscher, Vilma-Reeta Kivilahti, Sandra Spitzer, and Nina Lenhard, and Consultant Wolfram Schachinger.
The Wolf Theiss Bratislava team consisted of Senior Associate Katarina Bielikova and Associates Peter Heriban and Jozef Vircik.
