A team of European and U.S. lawyers from global law firm K&L Gates LLP is advising OYSTAR Holding GmbH on the sale of its shares in OYSTAR North America Inc., with factories in Davenport, Iowa, and Covington, Kentucky, to the Italian Coesia Group. Packaging machines company OYSTAR is a portfolio company of Berlin-based financial investor Odewald & Compagnie, and was acquired by Odewald from IWKA in 2007. The current transaction took place in the run-up to an international auction and is subject to antitrust approvals.
The bundled Food and Consumer Goods divisions being sold through the transaction include the Jones (pouch/sachet and carton systems), KartridgePak (Chub packaging), Autoprod and Homatic (rotary filling systems and lids), Aerofill (aerosol filling systems), Dawson (bottle filling systems) and MAP Systems (packaging to promote shelf life of sensitive products) brands, which have collectively over 550 employees and a revenue of approximately €170 million.
Coesia is an internationally active company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. Its sectors of activity include cosmetics, consumer goods, tobacco, aviation and racing.
Berlin corporate partner Dr. Thomas Lappe commented: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to work with Odewald & Compagnie for the first time on this transaction, which was successfully closed in a very short timeframe. This deal is another example of the seamless cooperation between K&L Gates’ German, U.S., UK, and Italian lawyers in complex cross-border transactions.”
The transaction was led by corporate partner Dr. Thomas Lappe and counsel Dr. Christian Horn (both Berlin). Chicago corporate partner Mark McMillan coordinated the U.S. legal aspects of the transaction, with corporate partners Gregory Hidalgo (Dallas) and Dr. Wilhelm Hartung (Berlin) also advising. Partners Manfred Hack (Berlin), Robert Brown (Chicago), Erin Turley (Dallas), Paul Callegari (London), and counsel Louise Waldron (London) advised on the employment and benefits/pensions issues. Corporate partner Pasquale Marini (Milan) advised on the Italian legal aspects.
Partner Dr. Tobias Bosch and associate Dr. Torsten Kraul (both Berlin) advised on IP law; Dr. Christian Hullmann (Berlin) advised on environmental law; and the banking aspects of the transaction were handled by partner Julia Müller and counsel Dr. Bastian Bongertz (both Frankfurt). Partner Annette Mutschler-Siebert and associate Dr. Gerung von Hoff (both Berlin) and partner Scott Mendel (Chicago) coordinated the merger control legal issues. Corporate associates Dr. Rainer Altfuldisch (Berlin), Josh Gaul (Seattle), and Dr. Judy Witten and Andreas Menge (both Berlin) also advised on the transaction.
Coesia was advised by Shearman & Sterling LLP (Domenico Fanuele and Dr. Alfred Kossmann).
