Taylor Wessing has landed a plum role advising new client Saint Gobain on its €2.125bn (£1.439bn) acquisition of mortar producer Maxit – handing the Anglo-German law firm one of its largest corporate instructions to date.
Taylor Wessing advised French building materials giant Saint Gobain fielding a German-based team including corporate partners Peter Hellich, Ernst-Albrecht von Beauvais and Dirk Lorenz.
Herbert Smith ally Gleiss Lutz advised the vendor, HeidelbergCement, with corporate partners Jan Bauer and Martin Schockenhoff spearheading the team for the German independent.
The role is a coup for Taylor Wessing, with Saint Gobain sharing its corporate work among a number of external advisers. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was recently instructed on the active group’s $1.8bn (£917m) joint venture with fellow building material company Owens Corning in March, while magic circle arch rival Linklaters advised on the company’s hostile takeover of plasterboard maker BPB in 2005 in a $5.7bn (£3.23bn) bid.
HeidelbergCement, meanwhile, also instructs a range of advisers, with Freshfields bagging a lead role when Gleiss Lutz client Spohn Cement made a $6.5bn (£3.6bn) bid for HeidelbergCement in 2005.
HeidelbergCement will use the proceeds from the sale of Maxit to finance its £7.85bn acquisition of UK construction group Hanson. Macfarlanes is acting for HeidelbergCement on that deal, with Freshfields leading for Hanson.
Maxit employs over 5,000 people across 30 countries and last year had a turnover of €1.2bn (£812m). The deal is subject to competition clearance.
