DLA Piper has advised the shareholders of Weidenhammer Packaging Group on sale of all of their shares in Weidenhammer Packaging Group to US-listed Sonoco Products Company. The purchase price amounts to €286 million in cash, subject to net debt and working capital adjustments. The transaction is still pending regulatory approval by the relevant cartel offices.
Sonoco intends to create a global leadership within the rigid paper packaging through this transaction and to significantly increase its global annual sales, particularly within the European market.
"We appreciate the efficient and focused approach of DLA Piper's team of law experts," said Ralf Weidenhammer, shareholder and managing director of Weidenhammer Packaging Group. "The DLA Piper team has significantly contributed to the overall coordination of the transaction, has clear-sightedly negotiated with the buyer side and has promoted the conclusion of this complex cross-border transaction within a tight time-frame as regards the size of this transaction.
"DLA Piper has not only accompanied the process, but has assumed an important and adequate lead in areas which are key for a family business. Besides the profound legal expertise this has formed a prominent aspect of our cooperation."
The DLA Piper team in Germany was led by Dr Isaschar Nicolaysen (Corporate, Hamburg) and included partners Dr Benjamin Parameswaran (Corporate, Hamburg), Dr Kai Bodenstedt (Employment, Hamburg), Dr Michael Holzhäuser (Antitrust, Frankfurt), counsels Dr Jens-Peter Eickhoff (Corporate, Cologne), Dr Thilo Streit and Guido Kleve (both Litigation & Regulatory, Cologne) and Dr Annemarie Bloss (Intellectual Property & Technology, Hamburg) as well as associates Christopher Albien (Corporate, Hamburg), Matthias Graumann (Litigation & Regulatory, Hamburg), Semin O (Antitrust, Frankfurt) and Dr Astrid Schnabel (Employment, Hamburg).
The DLA Piper team also incorporated partner Joseph Silver and associates Jeremy Corcoran and Jeff Friedman (all Corporate, Atlanta), partner Xavier Norlain and associates Guillaume Boitel and Emilie Vuillin (all Corporate, Paris), partner Philippe Danesi and associate Stephanie Schindler (Employment, Paris), partner Dirk Caestecker and associate Alexia Vervisch (both Real Estate, Brussels), partner Erwin Simons and associate Kristof Slootmans (both Corporate, Brussels), partner Steffen Kaufmann and associates Lyubov Paskar and Zhanna Elik (all Corporate, Moscow), partner Hendrik Bennebroek Gravenhorst (Corporate, Amsterdam) as well as partner Jasper Berkenbosch (Restructuring, Amsterdam) and associates Mirre Vermeer and Mervyn Odink (Real Estate, Amsterdam). In Greece the DLA Piper team has been supported by the law firm Sarantitis (partner Dorotheos Samoladas and associate Dolly Kostara, both Corporate, Athens).
Weidenhammer Packaging Group is Europe's leading provider of composite cans, composite drums and rigid plastic containers for customers in the foods, tobacco, personal care, pharmaceuticals and home and garden products markets. Weidenhammer Packaging Group has approximately 1,100 employees at twelve production facilities in Germany, Belgium, France, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Greece, the United States, Chile and Russia. Its customers comprise international brands such as Nestlé, Unilever, Kellogg Company, Mondelez, Rügenwalder Mühle, Imperial Tobacco and BAT.
Sonoco is a global provider of consumer-related packaging, industrial products, and protective packaging with annualized net sales of approximately USD 4.9 billion and 19,000 employees. Sonoco serves some of the world's best known brands in some 85 nations.
Sonoco has been advised by US law firm Reed Smith LLP, led by Lex Eley (Washington) and Constantin Conrads (Munich).
