DLA Piper advises HOYER on the acquisition of pan-asian Kerry-ITS Holding

DLA Piper has advised the HOYER Group (“HOYER”) on the acquisition of Singapore-based Kerry-ITS Holdings Pte. Ltd. ("Kerry-ITS") and its subsidiaries in Singapore, China, Vietnam and Thailand. With this strategic acquisition, HOYER is strengthening its presence in the important Asian market, thus consistently pursuing its international growth strategy towards becoming a fully integrated, global logistics group.

The structuring and execution of the transaction have been complex which was mainly due to the number of relevant Asian jurisdictions involved, the necessity of a comprehensive corporate restructuring of the Kerry-ITS group prior to Closing as well as tax structuring issues. The parties agreed to treat the purchase price confidentially.

The core business of Kerry-ITS is the storage, cleaning and repairing of ISO tank containers for chemical customers. Kerry-ITS is one of the leading providers in this field in Asia and thus complements HOYER's product portfolio in the region.

Based in Hamburg, Germany, HOYER is one of the world’s leading bulk logistics providers. The company, which employs around 6,100 people in 115 countries worldwide, offers comprehensive solutions particularly for the chemical, food, gas and mineral oil industries. The company's annual revenue is approximately EUR1.2 billion.

The international DLA Piper team was jointly led by partner Dr Nils Krause and senior associate Dr Moritz von Hesberg. The core team also included transaction lawyer Dan Li (all Corporate/M&A, Hamburg). Other team members included: partner Semin O (Antitrust, Frankfurt), counsel Sebastian Kost, senior associates Raffaella Rusin (both Tax, Munich), Dr Gregor Schroll (Antitrust, Cologne), Dr Jasper von Georg and Dominik Wegener as well as associates Christine Uwase, Rune Jelte Weltz (all Corporate/M&A, Hamburg) and Alexander Rösch (Antitrust, Frankfurt). DLA Piper teams from Singapore/Hong Kong, China and Thailand also provided advice. In China, the DLA Piper team was supported by local law firm Zhong Lun Law Firm, in Vietnam, by local law firm Vision & Associates.