Lawyers from DLA Piper’s Sheffield office have advised UGI Corporation (“UGI”) on the acquisition, by its subsidiary Flaga GmbH, of BP’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution business in Poland.
Working with colleagues Jacek Gizinski and Grzegorz Godlewski in DLA Piper’s Warsaw office, the Sheffield team led the English law governed deal on behalf of Pennsylvania-based UGI. Corporate associate, David Beech, co-ordinated the cross-border legal team.
Jon Kenworthy, partner in DLA Piper’s Corporate team in Sheffield, said: “this is the 11th acquisition on which we have advised UGI in the last two years. It follows on from its acquisitions of LPG businesses from Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”) in Poland and Hungary during 2010 and the simultaneous acquisition of eight European businesses during 2011, also from Shell, which saw its European LPG business expand to a capacity of over 700 million gallons.
“The addition of Poland is the latest strategic move for UGI as it continues to invest in its LPG presence in key markets.”
The deal is conditional on regulatory approval in Poland and is expected to close in early 2013. BP’s Polish LPG business distributed over 150 million gallons of LPG in 2011 and serves the residential, commercial, autogas and wholesale segments.
UGI is a distributor and marketer of energy products and services. Through subsidiaries, UGI operates natural gas and electric utilities in Pennsylvania, distributes propane both domestically and internationally, manages midstream energy and electric generation assets in Pennsylvania and engages in energy marketing in the Mid-Atlantic region.
