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SJ Berwin Advises Henderson on Secondary Buy-Out of Homann Feinkost Group

Wednesday 17th November 2004

SJ Berwin advised funds managed by Henderson Private Capital Limited, London on the acquisition of HOMANN Feinkost Group, the leading German chilled food delicatessen company, from the financial investor by way of a secondary buy-out. SJ Berwin's advice comprised the whole legal spectrum (M&A, corporate, acquisition finance, merger control, legal due diligence) as well as the efficient tax structuring of the transaction. In line with Henderson's business principles, management will hold a substantial interest in the company. The completion of the transaction is still subject to merger clearance by the German cartel authorities which is expected to be obtained shortly. The purchase price is confidential.

HOMANN Feinkost Group is one of the market leaders in chilled food delicatessens with sales of approximately €260 million and 1,050 employees at the company's site in Dissen/Osnabrück. The company was initially acquired by Gilde buy-out funds in 1999 from Unilever, and will now be supported by Henderson in its further growth in the German and other European markets.

Henderson Private Capital is the private equity arm of Henderson Global Investors with funds of €1 billion. Henderson Global Investors is a leading investment manager managing assets of institutional investors of approximately €98 billion.

The pan-European SJ Berwin team was led by Munich corporate partner Thomas Pauls, supported by Dr Christoph Brenner, Dr Frank Oschütz (all M&A/Corporate, Munich), Thomas Schrell, Andreas Kirchner, Torsten Koller, Gillian Smith, Jeremy Cross, Brendan Davies (acquisition finance, Frankfurt/London), Dr Alexander Rinne, Dr Michaela Westrup, Dr Kathrin Lübbe (merger control, Munich), Dr Holger Thomas (employment law, Frankfurt), Gerald Thomas, and Boris Meissner (tax structure)
Gilde was advised by Clifford Chance, Munich (Volker Kullmann, Dr Christian Zuleger, and Sascha Luerken). The financing banks BNP Paribas and ICG were advised by Baker & McKenzie, Frankfurt (Dr Christina Ungeheuer) and the management by Pöllath+Partner (Dr Michael Best).

Notes:

• SJ Berwin is a full-service international legal practice with more than 450 lawyers across its offices in London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Madrid and Paris.
• With a dedicated European private equity team comprising over 140 full-time corporate private equity lawyers together with support from its other departments, SJ Berwin advises clients on the full-range of private equity business, both in connection with the establishment of private equity funds and their associated incentive schemes, and on MBOs, MBIs, public-to-privates and venture capital investments.
• In Germany, our expert teams of lawyers (Rechtsanwälte) and tax advisors (Steuerberater) provide leading-edge legal services focusing on the German, European and international market place. Our offices are located in Frankfurt am Main, Munich and Berlin. Our focus is to provide multidisciplinary professional services of the highest calibre in our areas of expertise, i.e. Buy-Outs, Mergers & Acquisitions, Venture Capital Investments, Technology, Private Equity Funds, Hedge Funds and other Alternative Investments, Private Client Services, Employment and EU & Competition Law. Our clients are sophisticated buyers of legal services, ranging from entrepreneurial companies and financial institutions to leading multi-national companies.
• SJ Berwin has just been named "Private Equity Law Firm of the Year" 2004 at the Finance and Law Awards in Paris, and has been shortlisted for "Law Firm of the Year" 2004 at the EVCA/Real Deals European Private Equity Awards. We were also named "Legal Adviser of the Year" at the BVCA/Real Deals Private Equity Awards 2004, and our Head of Private Equity, Jonathan Blake, was admitted to the "Hall of Fame" for his services to the private equity industry over the last 20 years. SJ Berwin won the Chambers Global Award for "Western Europe: Private Equity - Law firm of the Year" 2003, as well as the Acquisitions Monthly award for "Mid-Market Law Firm of the Year" 2003 and the European Venture Capital Journal Award for "Private Equity Law Firm of the Year: Firm & fund work". It was also recently ranked as the "World's Leading Firm for Private Funds Expertise" in The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2003/4 and in 2004 was named at The European Private Equity Awards - for the third year running - "Best Law Firm (documentation)" by subscribers to PrivateEquityOnline and Private Equity International.
• SJ Berwin won the European Venture Capital Journal Award for Private Equity Law Firm of the Year 2000, Law Firm of the Year and Property Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2000, and Competition Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards 2000.
  

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