Cross-Disciplinary Team Advises on Global Acquisition
CHICAGO - McDermott Will & Emery represented Thomas Industries Inc. ("Thomas") on a recent acquisition in which Thomas has acquired the German and overseas operations of Werner Rietschle GmbH + Co. KG ("Rietschle"). The operations were acquired for € 85.5 million in cash and 1.8 million shares of Thomas common stock. Thomas, which also assumed approximately € 20 million of net debt in the transaction, engaged Robert W. Baird and Co. as its financial advisor in this acquisition, which was structured as a stock purchase.
Thomas manufactures and markets precision-engineered pumps and compressors for equipment manufacturers for a variety of applications, including health care, transportation, business equipment, consumer products and environmental licensing. Rietschle, also a manufacturer of precision-engineered pumps and compressors, has three manufacturing facilities in Europe and 23 distribution and sales subsidiaries in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
McDermott Will & Emery's international cross-disciplinary legal team was led by Michael Fayhee, head of the Firm's International Tax Department and John Tamisiea, a partner in the Firm's Chicago Corporate Department. The legal team included more than 40 lawyers from the Firm's Boston, Chicago, London, Munich and Washington, D.C. offices.
