Mayer Brown JSM has advised Beijing Enterprises Holdings on its acquisition of German firm EEW Energy from Waste Group for approximately 1.4 billion euros ($1.58 billion) from private equity firm EQT, which was represented by Clifford Chance.
The deal is subject to approval from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and expected to be completed by the end of February 2016. Beijing Enterprises Holdings, which is involved in various industries including gas, water services and solid-waste treatment, is making the biggest direct investment in a German business by a Chinese company to date.
EEW Energy, which has over 1,000 workers at 18 sites in Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, produces electricity for households, district heating for residential areas and process steam for industrial use.
Mayer Brown partners Dr. Klaus Riehmer in Frankfurt and Chester Wong in Hong Kong oversaw the transaction, assisted by partners Dr. Ulrike Binder, Dr. Jan Kraayvanger, Andreas Lange, Markus Strelow and Volker Junge.
A cross-border team from Clifford Chance handled the deal, led by Munich-based corporate partner Markus Muhs. Fellow partners Dr. Björn Heinlein, Dr. Kerstin Kopp, Joachim Hasselbach, Barbara Mayer-Trautmann, Dr. Stefan Simon, Dr. David Elshorst and Marc Besen, as well as attorneys from the firm’s Shanghai, London, Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Warsaw offices, also provided support.
