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
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
This content has been archived.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
© 2024 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 AllFCA Fines Metro Bank £16.7M Over ‘Financial Crime Failings’
Milbank Leads Bonus Race, Announces Year-End Pay News
K&L Gates Hires Energy Partner from Gibson Dunn in Singapore
Trending Stories
- 1The White Stripes Drop Copyright Claim Against Trump Campaign
- 2Law Firm Accused of Barratry for Allegedly Soliciting Crash Victims
- 3Carlton Fields Downsizes in Move to New Atlanta Office
- 4Trump's Selection of Zeldin to Head EPA Draws Surprise, Little Hope of Avoiding Deregulation
- 5Against the Odds: Voters Elect Woody Clermont to the Broward Judicial Bench
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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