Supporting complex global operations in the chemicals industry
Change is coming at chemicals companies from many different directions. Rising regulation, demand for greener products and global trade tensions throw up obstacles along the way. We provide practical guidance so you can get things done. Our lawyers help you future-proof your decisions and achieve your long-term objectives.
Cross-border sales are getting harder to maintain. New standards and evolving regulations mean companies with multinational sales are having to standardize products across markets, and trade tariffs and disputes are resulting in further complications. We advise you on effective procedures, and we draft watertight documentation that cuts your exposure to risk. We help you understand REACH and comply with China MEP, US EPA, US FDA and other agencies that regulate the industry. We cover trade, sanctions and government affairs, and we advise on market access and the regulatory issues involved in goods and supply chains.
We guide you through M&A, business transformations and corporate reorganizations. We analyze the risks and anticipate opportunities. Knowing your sector, we identify potential issues in product liability, quality management, delivery performance and other areas. We advise on joint ventures, commercial agreements, trademark protection and defense, employment working conditions and contractual concerns in R&D.
“Whether you’re pursuing a growth strategy or reacting to external circumstances, we have the experience to advise you on any issue – contentious or transactional.”
As companies shift toward using sustainable feedstocks and product offerings and invest to lower their carbon footprints, we help you reinvent how you operate and respond to the opportunities and challenges.
We act for many of the industry’s biggest producers and distributors in chemicals, petrochemicals and specialty chemicals, including the pharma, nutrition, packaging and automotive industries. Our lawyers know the global chemicals industry firsthand. Many held senior positions before joining our firm, were seconded to the legal departments of chemicals clients or regularly contribute to industry events.
Whether you’re pursuing a growth strategy or reacting to external circumstances, we have the experience to advise you on any issue – contentious or transactional.
Awards and recognition
Experience
Representing LyondellBasell affiliate Houston Refining, LP in a dispute surrounding a catalyst reactor upgrade at its Houston Refinery.
Advising Syngenta on the acquisition of South American seeds producer Nidera Seeds from COFCO International.
Advising Axalta Coating Systems on its acquisition of the France and China operations of IVA, a wire enamel manufacturer.
Representing Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (CP Chem) in New Jersey lawsuits surrounding a gas line explosion. CP Chem was dismissed following materials testing, initial court hearings, and requests for dismissal.
Advising LANXESS – active in the manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and modem plastics – on the outsourcing of the complete IT infrastructure as well as the application management.
Advising RPC Group on the very complex disposal of its fully owned subsidiary RPC Cobelplast in Belgium to BAVARIA Industries Group. The transaction involved e.g. a very complex pre-closing restructuring.
Advising The Valspar Corporation – the US-based manufacturer of paints, coatings and coating intermediates – on its acquisition of the Inver Group, the Italy-based manufacturer of coatings for industrial use with headquarters in Italy and subsidiaries in France, UK, Germany, Poland and Greece.
Representing the founder of China XD Plastics – a NASDAQ-listed manufacturer of specialty plastics – as part of a buyer consortium with Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia in a proposed leveraged privatization of China XD Plastics.
Advising Clover Chemicals in relation to the sale to Christeyns
Advising BASF on various projects, including:
several transactions relating to offshore wind farms Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) and Hollandse Kust West (HKW). HKZ is currently being built by BASF and Vattenfall together, and will be the first subsidy-free and the largest offshore wind farm in the world. BASF’s total commitment in this project amounts to around EUR1.6 billion. For HKW, we advised BASF on the partnership they will engage in with Vattenfall to jointly participate in the tender process;
the sale of its manufacturing site in Kankakee, Illinois and its associated producers of vegetable-oil-based raw material sterols and natural vitamin E, anionic surfactants and esters to an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners, a US-based private equity firm;
its EUR1.6 billion acquisition of Solvay’s global polyamide business, including a pre-closing divestment required by the EU as a remedy for obtaining merger clearance;
its strategic cooperation with Norilsk Nickel for battery materials production for electric vehicles with an approx. investment amount of EUR400 million;
its contemplated JV with ADNOC, Adani and Borealis for the contemplated establishment of a chemical park in Mundra, Gujarat, India;
advice in US product liability litigation related to a legacy product.
Advising INEOS on various projects, including:
its USD1.1 billion acquisition of Ashland Global Holdings’ Composites business, as well as a butanediol (BDO) manufacturing facility in Marl, Germany;
its acquisition of the North American business of National Titanium Dioxide Co Ltd (Cristal) from Tronox Limited.
