Paul Weiss, Baker McKenzie Handle $2B Chinese Retail Deal
Wumart supermarket chain operator Wumei is acquiring the Chinese business of Germany's Metro.
October 17, 2019 at 12:12 PM
2 minute read
Wumart. Photo: Shutterstock.com
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Baker McKenzie have the lead roles on a $2.1 billion retail deal in China.
Beijing-based Wumei Technology Group, which operates the Wumart supermarket chain in China, is acquiring German wholesaler Metro AG's 23-year-old Chinese operations, Metro China, at an enterprise value of $2.1 billion. The German company will also receive a 20% stake in the newly created joint venture between Metro China and Wumei. The transaction is expected to be completed by the second quarter of next year, following Chinese government and regulatory approvals.
Paul Weiss Hong Kong partner Betty Yap is advising Wumei. German firm Noerr partners Alexander Hirsch in Düsseldorf, Till Kosche in Frankfurt and Tibor Fedke in Berlin are serving as German counsel. JunHe is serving as Chinese counsel to Beijing-based Wumei.
Baker McKenzie partners Howard Wu in Shanghai and Ingo Strauss in Düsseldorf are advising Metro. They are supported by partners Grace Tso in Hong Kong; Frank Zhuang in Baker McKenzie's Shanghai Free Trade Zone alliance firm, FenXun Partners; Heiko Gotsche in Düsseldorf; and Christian Atzler and Michael Fammler in Frankfurt.
According to a recent report by Baker McKenzie, domestic mergers and acquisitions in China will decline next year due to the slowdown in economic growth and the continuing trade dispute with the United States. The firm forecasts next year will have 2,527 Chinese deals worth a combined $194.6 billion – down from 2,858 deals worth $223.3 billion this year. But the firm predicts Chinese deal activity will pick up again in 2022 to 2,848 deals worth $299 billion, which could be the largest total deal value since 2016.
Baker McKenzie is also currently representing China Yangtze Power Co., a subsidiary of state-owned energy company China Three Gorges Corp., on a $3.59 billion acquisition of U.S.-based Sempra Energy's Peruvian business, in the largest Chinese outbound deal announced so far this year.
Related stories:
Baker McKenzie, White & Case Handle $3.6B Chinese Outbound Energy Deal
Amid Deal Slowdown, Herbert Smith Freehills in Top Five APAC M&A Rankings So Far in 2019
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
X Ordered to Release Data by German Court Amid Election Interference Concerns
Quinn Emanuel's Hamburg Managing Partner and Four-Lawyer Team Jump to Willkie Farr
Trump ICC Sanctions Condemned as ‘Brazen Attack’ on International Law
U.S.- China Trade War: Lawyers Label WTO Dispute Pointless, Clients Have Their Hands Tied
Trending Stories
- 1States Accuse Trump of Thwarting Court's Funding Restoration Order
- 2Microsoft Becomes Latest Tech Company to Face Claims of Stealing Marketing Commissions From Influencers
- 3Coral Gables Attorney Busted for Stalking Lawyer
- 4Trump's DOJ Delays Releasing Jan. 6 FBI Agents List Under Consent Order
- 5Securities Report Says That 2024 Settlements Passed a Total of $5.2B
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
