April 5, 2017
Willkie represents Flex-N-Gate in its purchase of former Plastic Omnium plants in France, Spain and Germany.
On March 31, Willkie client Flex-N-Gate Group, a global automotive supplier, announced the completion of its acquisition of seven European plants – four in France, one in Spain and two in Germany – from France-based Plastic Omnium. The plants were sold on the basis of an enterprise value of €200 million pursuant to a divestiture requirement implemented by the European Commission following Plastic Omnium’s July 2016 acquisition of Faurecia Auto Exterior businesses. These assets represented approximately €700 million in revenue, split evenly between the bumper business in France and Spain and the front-end module assembly business in Germany.
Flex-N-Gate is ranked by Automotive News as the 10th-largest original equipment supplier in North America and the 38th largest supplier in the world. Flex-N-Gate employs more than 18,000 people at 55 manufacturing facilities and nine product development and engineering facilities throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, China, Japan, Brazil and Spain.
The Willkie deal team was led by partner Daniel Hurstel and national partner Grégoire Finance, and included associates Georges Balit, Grégoire Dumazy and Camille Rézette for M&A matters. The team also included national partner Faustine Viala and associate Mathilde Ayel (antitrust) and associate Martin Waskowski (German law matters).