CERHA HEMPEL has advised EnBW Trust e.V. ("EnBW Trust") and EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG ("EnBW") on the sale of a 28.35% stake in EVN AG that was held in trust for EnBW by the EnBW Trust. The block of shares was purchased by WIENER STADTWERKE GmbH. The contracting parties agreed not to disclose any deals regarding the purchase agreement.
Closing is subject to the approval of the competent competition authorities.
EVN AG, which has its registered office in Maria Enzersdorf, Lower Austria, is listed on the Official Market of the Vienna Stock Exchange in the Prime Market segment. 51% of the shares in EVN are indirectly held by the Province of Lower Austria. EnBW has held an interest in EVN since 2001 and transferred its shareholding to the EnBW Trust at the end of 2013, with the shareholding held under a contractual trust arrangement.
EnBW, which has its registered office in Karlsruhe, Germany, is a listed energy supplier. With more than 21,000 employees, EnBW is one of the largest energy companies in Germany and Europe. EnBW supplies 5.5 million customers with electricity, gas and water and provides energy solutions and services.
The in-house team at EnBW headed by lawyer Martin Düker provided legal support during the transaction. In addition, Dr. Bernd-Michael Zinow, General Counsel at EnBW, supervised and oversaw the transaction. Mr Düker is also a member of the management board of the EnBW Trust. The team at CERHA HEMPEL included Albert Birkner (Managing Partner, Corporate/M&A, Takeovers), Volker Glas (Partner, Capital Markets), Bernhard Kofler-Senoner (Partner, Antitrust) as well as Nadine Leitner, Wolfgang Sindelar, Alistair Gillespie (Associates, Corporate/M&A, Takeovers) and Michael Mayer (Counsel, Antitrust).
Albert Birkner as lead partner at CERHA HEMPEL for EnBW: "The sale of the shares in EVN by the EnBW Trust to WIENER STADTWERKE is one of the largest transactions in Austria in 2020. CERHA HEMPEL has advised EnBW on Austrian law ever since it acquired a stake in EVN back in 2001. The successful, as well as rapid and efficient, sale of the EVN shares is the result of excellent collaboration, both on a professional and personal level, between CERHA HEMPEL and the highly professional team at EnBW. We wish to thank EnBW for the confidence they have placed in CERHA HEMPEL over many years."