Shearman & Sterling has advised Italian-headquartered Coesia S.p.A, an industrial machinery and processes company, on its agreement to acquire Oystar North America, Inc. from Oystar International GmbH (a company controlled by German private equity fund, Odewold & Compagnie). The acquisition is subject to customary antitrust approvals.
Headquartered in Bologna, Coesia is a group of industrial solutions companies operating globally with 5000 employees. Its 2012 forecast revenues (pre-acquisition) were €1.2 billion (approx. US$1.5 billion). The group’s companies are leaders in advanced automated machinery, industrial process solutions (production logistics, inline printing and vision inspection systems) and precision gears. Coesia’s customers are key players in the health and beauty, consumer goods, tobacco, aerospace and racing sectors.
Oystar NA is one of the largest suppliers of packaging machinery and services in the US, Canada and Mexico. It has revenues of over US$200 million (approx. €160 million) over 550 employees and more than 70 patents worldwide.
The Shearman & Sterling team of lawyers in the firm’s Milan, Düsseldorf, London and New York included M&A partners Domenico Fanuele and Alfred Kossmann and associates Andrea De Pieri and Giovanni Cirelli. M&A senior associate Adam Samarillo and finance associate Vieri Parigi advised on specific US cross border aspects of the acquisition and on the financing agreements.
The transaction also involved finance counsel Gabrielle Wong and associate Monsiree Jirasarunya. Tax advice was provided by partnerDouglas McFadyen and associate Derek Kershaw. Antitrust advice was provided by counsel Lisl Dunlop and associate Kelly Karapetyan. CounselsSam Whitaker and Sharon Lippett and associates Jennifer Stadler and Nell Beekman advised on executive compensation and employee benefit aspects of the acquisition. Counsel Jason Prattadvised on environmental law-related matters, associates Zheng Bao and Benjamin Petersen advised on IP aspects and associates Warda Shazadi and Daniel Buchinger advised on real estate-related issues.
