Clifford Chance has advised a shareholder consortium on the sale of Euro-Druckservice (EDS) group, a leading printing business in Central and Eastern Europe, to German investment company Deutsche Private Equity Management III GmbH. The shareholders were advised by investment company Kartesia. The transaction signed on 29 September 2017 and is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose details of the transaction.

EDS, headquartered in Passau, Germany, employs approximately 1,500 employees across five countries and is the leading provider of print marketing solutions for retailers in Central and Eastern Europe with revenues of EUR 275 million in financial year 2016.

Kartesia is an independent and privately owned specialist provider of financing solutions focused on small and middle market companies in Europe. Kartesia has over EUR 1.4 billion assets under management and has invested in over 85 companies in France, Germany, Northern Europe, Spain, Italy, Benelux and the United Kingdom.

The Clifford Chance team comprised partner Dr. Nicole Englisch (Munich), counsel Dr. Cristina Weidner, senior associate Florian Holder (both Frankfurt), associates Laura Treublein (Munich) and Dr. Artur Swierczok (Frankfurt, all Coporate) as well as counsel Dr. Dimitri Slobodenjuk (Antitrust, Düsseldorf). Lawyers from Clifford Chance's offices in Luxembourg, Prague, Warsaw and Bucharest also advised on the transaction.

A Clifford Chance team has been advising EDS since 2007.