DLA Piper has advised Australian listed company Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (Domino's) on the acquisition of Joey's Pizza Group.

Domino's is the largest pizza delivery chain in Australia and the biggest franchisor of the Domino's Pizza brand with more than 1,500 stores and approximately 30,000 employees in Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Japan.

With the acquisition of Joey's Pizza Group and the resulting entry into the German market, Domino's takes a further important step as part of its European expansion.

Joey's Pizza, with over 200 stores, more than 130 franchise partners and approximately 5,000 employees, is among the top ten largest gastronomy franchisors in Germany and is the market leader in the area of pizza home delivery (with over 10 million pizzas delivered annually and a net turnover in 2014 of EUR 135 million).

"DLA Piper's transaction team is one of the best I have worked with so far. The team has significantly facilitated the success of this strategically important transaction for Domino's." says Andrew Rennie, CEO Europe of Domino's.

The purchase price for Joey's Pizza will amount to approximately EUR 79 million.

The acquirer is a German subsidiary of Domino's who will, after completion of the transaction, be held by a joint venture company, in which Domino's will hold a 2/3 share. Minority joint venture partner will be UK listed company Domino's Pizza Group plc. (DPG).

Furthermore, the acquirer has purchased the German Domino's Pizza stores currently run by DPG. As consideration for granting access to the German market, as well as for the transfer of the existing franchise system to the joint venture, Domino's will pay up to EUR 25 million.

The transaction is expected to close - after merger clearance - in the first quarter of 2016.

The DLA Piper team was led by Corporate partner Dr. Benjamin Parameswaran, counsel Cristina Helena Villafrade and senior associate Sebastian Decker (all Corporate, Hamburg). Further support was provided by partner Dr. Jan Joachim Dreyer and associate Dr. Gregor Schroll (both Competition Law, Cologne), partner Dr. Konrad Rohde and counsel Dr. Raimund Behnes (both Tax, Frankfurt), counsel Dr. Isaschar Nicolaysen and associate Katharina Minski (both Corporate, Hamburg), partner Dr. Kai Bodenstedt and senior associate Dr. Henriette Norda (both Employment, Hamburg), Partner Dr. Marco Arteaga (Employment, Frankfurt), Partner Dr. Thilo von Bodungen (Commercial, Munich), senior associate Dr. Bahne Sievers (Commercial, Hamburg) and associate Olga Blaszczyk (Commercial, Munich) and counsel Verena Grentzenberg (data protection, Hamburg).