News
Porzio Advises Germany1 on Acquisition of AEG Power, One of First SPAC Transactions in Europe
July 24, 2009
New York, NY – July 24, 2009 – Porzio, Bromberg & Newman acted as U.S. counsel for Germany1 Acquisition Limited (Euronext: GAL1S), a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”), which announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire all the shares of AEG Power Solutions B.V. from Ripplewood Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm, for €200 million in cash and 19,208,955 Germany1 shares. The transaction also includes potential earn-out payments of up to €50 million based on the achievement of certain performance targets during fiscal years 2009-2011. The purchase price is based on a total enterprise value for the target company of €532 million.
Germany1 is only the third SPAC to complete a listing on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam exchange and raised €250 million in its IPO in July 2008. The Porzio Corporate Team worked closely with its colleagues at CMS Hasche Sigle in Europe in a complex cross-border transaction. Christopher F. Schultz and Christopher F. van Elk led the work on the transaction for Porzio. Mr. Schultz commented: “We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Germany1 and CMS on a complex cross border transaction that builds on our experience representing SPACs in the U.S. It is encouraging to see that Merger & Acquisition activity is beginning to show signs of life in the cross-border arena.”
AEG Power Solutions has been a world-leading power electronics company for over 60 years. Headquartered in Belecke, Germany, it has 1,600 employees across 16 countries. The company generated sales of €343 million and EBIT of €56 million in 2008. Its product portfolio comprises highly engineered power electronics solutions for industrial renewable and infrastructure applications. AEG Power Solutions is the world’s leading provider of power controllers for making polysilicon, which is a major component in the solar energy industry.
