3月28日，浙江吉利控股集团有限公司（吉利）宣布已与福特汽车签署最终股权收购协议，以18亿美元获得沃尔沃轿车公司100%的股权以及相关资产。吉利表示除了股权收购，沃尔沃、吉利和福特三方之间在知识产权、零部件供应和研发方面达成的重要条款。该协议还有待监管部门的审批并预计今年第三季度完成交割。
为成功完成收购，吉利聘请了强大了中介团队，其中包括国际律师事务所富而德，顶尖国内律所海问以及瑞典律师事务所Cederquist作为其法律顾问，负责收购项目的所有相关法律事务，包括知识产权、商业协议、诉讼、雇佣、不动产、经销商及特许经营等。
富而德针对此次项目，特别组建了一个项目团队，由跨多个国家和区域的律师合伙人组成。其中包括伦敦牵头合伙人Christopher Bown 和Avril Martindale，北京合伙人Jack Wang，香港合伙人Teresa Ko 以及纽约合伙人Tim Wilkins.
| Geely acquisition of 100% stake of Volvo Cars |
Value: US$1.8bn |
|
|---|---|---|
| Geely has inked the deal with Ford to acquire Volvo Cars for US$1.8bn. Pending regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year. | ||
| Firm | Client | Role |
|
Freshfields |
Geely | International counsel |
|
Haiwen & Partners |
Geely | PRC counsel |
|
Cederquist |
Geely | Swedish counsel |
| Hogan & Hartson | Ford | International counsel |
Although still building up its international experience, Geely, the country's largest private carmaker based in Zhejiang, has successfully executed the purchase of Sweden's Volvo with strong support from a team of top-rated advisors, including Freshfields and Haiwen.
The transaction encompasses agreements on IP rights and supply and R&D arrangements between Volvo, Geely and Ford. Freshfields compiled a team of lawyers across Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Moscow and New York to advise on a range of complex issues relating to corporate, IP, antitrust, IT, tax, finance and employment law. The team was led by London corporate partner Christopher Bown and London IP partner Avril Martindale, who advised on the critical IP agreements. Other partners in the team were Jack Wang (Beijing), Teresa Ko (Hong Kong) and Tim Wilkins (New York).
Teresa Ko, China managing partner of Freshfields, commented that this is a landmark deal, the largest international automotive acquisition by a privately owned Chinese company, and a significant milestone in China's "Go Global" strategy.
Haiwen acted as Geely's PRC legal advisor, with partner Lan Jie leading the team. Lan previously worked at fellow legal advisor on this deal, Freshfields, from 2003 to 2009 before joining Haiwen as a partner. Swedish legal advice was provided by Swedish law firm Cederquist, its team led by partner Peter Wirell. For Zhejiang local legal matters and many domestic contentious issues, Geely mostly works with long-term external counsel Lou Tao, the managing partner of Zhejiang Xing Tao law firm, for advice.
Interestingly, Geely didn't turn to Sidley Austin for advice in this transaction. The firm acted for Hong Kong-listed Geely Automobile when it raised US$243m through issuing bonds and warrents to GS Capital Partners VI Fund last September. The firm also previously advised the company on its acquisition of majority stakes in five jointly held automakers controlled by its parent, Geely Group. Freshfields' far-reaching network and resources in Europe may be part of the reason for it to win the mandate for this outbound transaction. ALB
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