CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is acting as Lead Counsel to the premier construction group STRABAG SE in the implementation of the agreed foundation of Lafarge Cement CE Holding GmbH, with a transaction value of EUR 1 billion.
On 29 July 2011, STRABAG, Central and Eastern Europe’s largest construction company, and Lafarge, the market leading manufacturer of building materials, successfully concluded the transaction which had been agreed in May 2010 and notified to the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde) in October 2010.
In one of the most complex merger control proceedings to come before the Austrian cartel authorities in recent years, it was possible to address and overcome the concerns raised by the competition watchdog, following an in-depth review and by calling upon the advice of experts. Given that the transaction had already been approved by the German authorities in 2010, merger control approval for the transaction was also issued in Austria in February 2011 without the transaction being made subject to any conditions.
To achieve the target structure, Lafarge brought into the holding company its cement plants in Mannersdorf and Retznei (Austria), Cižkovice (Czech Republic) and Trbovlje (Slovenia), whereas STRABAG contributed its newly constructed plant in Pécs (Hungary). After completion of the transaction – which is valued at over EUR 1 billion –Lafarge now holds a 70% interest and STRABAG holds a 30% interest in the new company.
As regards the structuring and implementation of the transaction, STRABAG was advised by CHSH partners Albert Birkner (Corporate, M&A) and Bernhard Kofler-Senoner (Antitrust law). The CHSH attorney team was completed by Jürgen Edtbauer and Claudia Schmidt.