DLA Piper has advised Israel Chemicals Limited, Tel Aviv, Israel (ICL), an international chemical concern, on the sale of ICL's aluminum, paper chemicals and water treatment business (APW Business) to the Japanese corporation Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (Kurita).
The asset sale and purchase agreement was signed on 26 October 2014, and the transaction is envisage to be completed at the end of this year. The APW business units produce active ingredients, formulations and customized water treatment solutions for use by industries and municipalities. The asset sale and purchase agreement also includes Kurita’s purchase of ICL Performance Products' (ICL PP) chemical additives business for the paper industry and related aluminium compounds produced by ICL PP at its facilities located in Ludwigshafen and Düsseldorf as well as at additional venues in Europe and China.
ICL is a global manufacturer of products based on specialty minerals that fulfil essential needs of the world’s growing population in the agriculture, processed food and engineered materials markets. It is a public company whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. 45 per cent of ICL’s Shares are held by Israel Corporation Ltd, 13.9 per cent by PotashCorp and the remainder by the public. The company employs approximately 12,000 people worldwide, and its sales in 2013 totalled 6.3 billion US dollar. ICL sold the APW Business as part of its strategy to further focus on its core businesses in agriculture, food and engineered markets, to Kurita.
The team of DLA Piper was led by partner Dr Kirsten Girnth (Corporate, Frankfurt) and comprised partners Dr Jan Dreyer (Litigation & Regulatory, Cologne), Martin Heinsius and Dr Konrad Rohde (both Tax, Frankfurt), Michael Magotsch (Employment, Frankfurt), Fabian Mühlen (Real Estate, Frankfurt), Jan Pohle (Intellectual Property & Technology, Cologne), counsels Dr Thilo Streit and Guido Kleve (both Litigation & Regulatory, Cologne), Dr Christian Kau (Intellectual Property & Technology, Cologne), Dr Sascha Morgenroth (Employment, Frankfurt) as well as associates Dr Birka Stroschein, Dr Philipp Oppermann and Niklas Mangels (all Corporate, Frankfurt), Johannes Wolz (Employment, Frankfurt), Jennifer Sieger (Intellectual Property & Technology, Frankfurt), Carla Nicolai (Real Estate, Frankfurt), Dr Gregor Schroll (Litigation & Regulatory, Cologne) and Maren Beneke (Corporate, Cologne).
Further, DLA Piper lawyers from other jurisdictions advised on the transaction: Partners Robert McKie (Corporate, Sheffield), Jonathan Clarke (Corporate, Istanbul), Philippe Danesi (Employment, Paris), Jacek Gizinski (Corporate, Warsaw), Wolf Michael Kühne (Corporate, Milan), Michaela Stessl (Corporate, Bratislava) as well as associates Pannie Yiu (Corporate, Shanghai), Emilie Vuillin (Corporate, Paris), Eva Amor (Employment, Paris), Basak Belet (Corporate, Istanbul), Jakub Cisar (Corporate, Prague), Barbara Donato (Corporate, Milan), Eduardo Lucas (Corporate, Madrid), Joanna Przybyl (Corporate, Warsaw) and Richard Folke (Stockholm).
At ICL, Nikolaas Vles (M&A Legal Counsel Europe, ICL Holding The Netherlands) and Dr Rouven Schwab (General Counsel, ICL Germany) advised on the transaction.
