Shearman & Sterling has advised International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), Abu Dhabi, on a settlement agreement with commercial vehicle and engineering group MAN. The agreement comprises a settlement of their dispute regarding Essen-based industrial services provider Ferrostaal. The two shareholders have agreed that IPIC will retransfer to MAN, and MAN will repurchase from IPIC, all of IPIC’s shares in Ferrostaal. MAN is to pay €350 million under the settlement. IPIC acquired 70 percent of the shares in Ferrostaal at the start of 2009.

With this settlement, IPIC and MAN have resolved all claims between them and have set the foundation for a positive relationship in the future. The settlement is subject to clearance by relevant antitrust authorities. 

Following the acquisition in 2008/2009, Shearman & Sterling has advised IPIC comprehensively with regard to the Ferrostaal complex. Along with ongoing corporate and tax law advice, this has involved representing IPIC in the Ferrostaal compliance investigations, the arbitration procedure regarding the unwinding of the transaction, and the negotiation and signing of the settlement agreement. 

The Shearman & Sterling team included partners Georg F. Thoma, Harald Selzner, Martin Neuhaus (all Düsseldorf-Corporate/M&A), Johannes Frey (Munich-International Tax), Markus Rieder (Munich-International Arbitration) and Winfried Carli (Munich-Finance). They were supported by associates Natalie Daghles, Nikolaus Plagemann (both Düsseldorf-Corporate/M&A), Norbert Mückl, Stephanie Bruhn (both Munich-International Tax), Stefan Falge, Andreas Schönemann, Wolfram Prusko (all Munich-International Arbitration), Georg Gellißen, Rüdiger Schmidt-Bendun (both Düsseldorf-Corporate/M&A) and Axel Korth (Munich-Finance).