July.16.2018
Orrick advised Wickeder Westfalenstahl GmbH, one of the world's leading manufacturers of clad materials, on the management buyout (MBO) of Deutsche Nickel Group.
The stake held by Wickeder Westfalenstahl in the holding company of Deutsche Nickel Group will be taken over by DN Equity GmbH, an acquisition company of managers of Deutsche Nickel. The transaction will support the further growth of Deutsche Nickel Group, which also includes the subsidiaries Deutsche Nickel Asia Trading Co. (China), Deutsche Nickel America, Inc. (USA), and Deutsche Nickel Real Estate GmbH. For Wickeder Group, the MBO is another important step in its future strategic orientation, which is directed at special metals, micro-technology and sophisticated parts production.
Based in Wickede, Germany, Wickeder Westfalenstahl is a specialist for clad materials and the operative parent company of Wickeder Group. Since its foundation in 1913, the company has strengthened its market position in the field of clad materials through constant product and technology innovations. In addition to Wickeder Westfalenstahl GmbH, the Wickeder Group includes the companies Auerhammer Metallwerk, Engineered Materials Solutions, HPetch, MPU, Inflotek, and Micrometal.
Deutsche Nickel GmbH is a manufacturer of ingots, wire, bar and forged semi-finished products as well as starting materials for strip and sheet metal production from nickel, nickel-base and copper-nickel alloys. Deutsche Nickel Group has manufacturing, sales and distribution facilities in Germany, America and Asia.
Wickeder Westfalenstahl was advised by an Orrick team led by Düsseldorf M&A partner Wilhelm Nolting-Hauff, who has been Wickeder Group’s advisor for many years, including in the sale of the cold strip division in 2016. The team also included Jinal Shah (partner, M&A and private equity, London), Christoph Wenderoth and Vanessa Sousa-Höhl (both associate, M&A and private equity, Düsseldorf) as well as Louisa Kallhoff (associate, employment, Düsseldorf).