Hengeler Mueller advises industrial gases specialist Messer on the full takeover of joint venture Messer Industries and the agreement of a long-term strategic partnership with GIC

Messer, the world's largest privately held specialist for industrial, medical and specialty gases, will become the sole owner of the joint venture Messer Industries. It comprises Messer's companies in North and South America as well as Western Europe. This agreement was concluded with the previous minority owner, CVC Capital Partners Fund VII.

In parallel, Messer brings in GIC, a global institutional investor, as its partner to become the long-term minority shareholder in Messer. The proceeds of this investment will be used to finance the acquisition of shares in Messer Industries.

The joint venture Messer Industries, which will be fully owned by Messer, was established on 1 March 2019 as a strategic partnership between Messer and CVC Capital Partners Fund VII. It comprises the majority of the former gases business of Linde AG in North America as well as individual business activities of Linde and Praxair in South America, which both groups had to sell in the course of their merger. Messer contributed the majority of its Western European activities to the joint venture.

The transaction between Messer and CVC as well as the entry of GIC are still subject to the usual regulatory approvals. The acquisition of the shares is expected to be completed by year end 2023.

Hengeler Mueller team for Messer

M&A: Christof Jäckle (Frankfurt), Emanuel P. Strehle (Munich, both partners, both lead), Johannes Baumann (counsel), Philipp Ersfeld, Marc Zuber (all Frankfurt), Johannes Schmidt (Munich, all associates),

Financing: Johannes Tieves (partner, lead), Tom Shingler (counsel, both Frankfurt),

Corporate: Lucina Berger (partner), Ioanna Tsotsa (associate, both Frankfurt),

Antitrust: Alf-Henrik Bischke (partner), Anja Balitzki (counsel, both Dusseldorf),

Public Law/FDI: Jan D. Bonhage (partner), Anton O. Petrov (associate, both Berlin),

Tax: Markus Ernst (partner, Munich), Sebastian Heinrichs (counsel, Frankfurt),

IP/IT: Matthias Rothkopf (counsel), Kira Fritsche, Johannes Jäkle (both associates, all Dusseldorf),

Employment: Hendrik Bockenheimer (partner), Stefan Kreß, Andreas Kaletsch (both associates, all Frankfurt).