DLA Piper advises Wipro Limited on the acquisition of METRO-NOM GmbH and METRO Systems Romania

DLA Piper has advised Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting, and business process services company, on the acquisition of METRO AG's IT units – METRO-NOM GmbH in Germany and METRO Systems Romania S.R.L. The acquisition is part of an agreement for a significant strategic digital and IT partnership between Wipro and METRO AG. Through this partnership, more than 1,300 employees across Germany, Romania and India will transfer to Wipro.

The strategic partnership is designed to run for five years, with the intention to extend up to four additional years.

Wipro will deliver a complete technology, engineering and solutions transformation program for METRO. The transformation program will encompass cloud, data center, workplace and network services, along with application development and operations to provide an integrated, flexible and robust digital infrastructure to help drive METRO’s transformation agenda.

At the heart of the partnership is the formation of a joint Transformation Office and Innovation Council that will guide the businesses through the transformation and ensure collaborative innovation throughout the partnership. Wipro also plans to launch a Digital Innovation Hub in Düsseldorf to support METRO and other clients in the region.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close on or before 30 April, 2021.

DLA Piper has comprehensively advised Wipro Limited on the acquisition of METRO-NOM GmbH in Germany and METRO Systems Romania S.R.L. The strategic digital and IT partnership agreement was advised by a Wipro in-house team.

The DLA Piper team was led by partner Dr Mathias Schulze Steinen (Corporate) and comprised of partners Dr Konrad Rohde (Tax, both Frankfurt), Jan Pohle (IPT), Dr Jan Joachim Dreyer (Antitrust, both Cologne) and Pascal Kremp (Employment, Munich), counsels Dr Thilo Streit (Public Law, Cologne) and Dr Raimund Behnes (Tax, Frankfurt), senior associates Kristin Vogt-Schories (Frankfurt), Katharina Minski (Hamburg, both Corporate), Dr Gregor Schroll (Antitrust), France Vehar (IPT, both Cologne) and Georg Haberkorn (Employment, Munich), associate Nathalie Downar (IPT, Cologne) as well as transaction lawyer Tsai Hsuan Lee (Corporate, Frankfurt). From the DLA Piper office in Bucharest, partner Monica Georgiadis, counsel Andra Trantea (both Employment), Oana Dutu-Buzura (Corporate) and Lidia Tutu (Tax) as well as associate Diana Nacuta (Employment) were also involved.

In-house at Wipro Limited Nils Vernooij (Head Corporate Counsel) advised on this transaction.