Lawyers from Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak advised the Mexican company Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS) in the acquisition of a stake in Automotive Components Europe (ACE), a company listed on the Stock Exchange in Warsaw. The market value of the transaction amounted to PLN 350,000,000. GIS in the second half of December acquired more than 90% of ACE’s share, then immediately after the settlement of the tender offer, proceeded with the compulsory buyout (squeeze-out) of minority shareholders and became 100% owner of ACE’s shares.
Immediately after the acquisition of 100% of the shares, the shares were transferred to a Spanish company in the GIS Group. SK&S advised the client on all elements of the transaction, including: in the field of regulatory obligations, obtaining the approvals of antitrust authorities, and matters related with transactions funding. Due to the fact that ACE was in a group of companies in a Luxembourg group, and listed on the Stock Exchange in Warsaw, this was a precedent-setting transaction and required close co-operation with law offices in Mexico, Luxembourg, Spain and other jurisdictions, in particular with regard to performing tender offer duties, notification duties, antitrust duties and conducting the squeeze-out procedure.
As a part of the transaction, GIS was assisted by a team of lawyers from SK&S headed by Krzysztof Pawlisz, the partner responsible for capital market practice at SK&S. The remainder of the team consisted of: Andrzej Motyka, Justyna Młodzianowska, Witold Kurek, Jan Pierzgalski and Anna Bartosiewicz. Krzysztof Kanton was the partner responsible for antitrust matters and competition law.