Dr. Axel Pajunk acted as the responsible partner and / or as team leader in charge in all of the following mandate examples. We are not permitted to cite numerous other transactions and mandates – including those from other industries – in this section for confidentiality reasons.
Advising a listed majority shareholder and the management shareholders on the sale of their IT company (including foreign subsidiaries) in the field of digitization solutions in an auction process to a strategic buyer listed on the NYSE. The transaction included performance-related purchase price components (earn-out) as well as a reverse participation of the management shareholders and a partial purchase price consisting of the purchaser's own shares (share-for-share). The transaction volume was between 25 and 50 million euros.
Advising the founding shareholders on the sale of their IT company, a specialized provider of consulting, transformation and technology services, to a software company for digitization solutions, which is majority-owned by a private equity fund. The purchase price consisted of earnings-dependent components (EBIT thresholds). The transaction volume was between 25 and 50 million euros.
Advising an IT company with revenues of more than EUR 100 million and more than 500 employees on
Advice provided to a financial investor and advisory board members regarding the sale of their shares in a Germany-listed e-commerce services company in the context of a friendly take-over of the majority ownership by a Swiss-listed digital commerce firm with competences in content production, digital marketing and blockchain technology. The transaction was structured through a combination of a capital increase and the buyout of a group of large shareholders and comprised changes at the management and board level all as agreed in an investment agreement and a share purchase agreement.
Advice provided to a German company and its founding shareholders on a strategic partnership and (re-)investment in a joint venture with the purchaser, a New York-based venture-capital investor specialising in technology companies. The company is a global provider in the area of digital damage and maintenance processing. The transaction volume was between 150 and 250 million euros.
Advice provided to a public limited company and its founder on the sale of the company to an NYSE-listed global provider of services and software for the processing of damage claims. The target company is a market leader for the data-based and automated inspection of cost estimates and invoices. The transaction volume was between 25 and 100 million euros.
Advising a leading global specialty chemicals group on the sale of its 50% shareholding in a joint venture company to a subsidiary of a petrochemical manufacturer publicly listed in Saudi Arabia. The transaction is subject to antitrust clearance in various European countries and involved mutual due diligence and complex valuation issues. The transaction volume was between EUR 150 and 250 million.
Advising a German investment company on the takeover of two business operations of a company specialising in soap production from the insolvency administrator. The acquisition secures all 150 jobs and aims to unite the two businesses under one company as industry leader in the European market. In addition to its own brands, the company also produces products for numerous retail chains and globally active branded goods manufacturers. The annual turnover amounted to approximately EUR 40 million. The advice included the tax-optimised set-up of the acquisition structure for further investors as well as insolvency and labour law aspects with the support of network partners.
Advice provided to one of the largest family businesses in the USA on the acquisition of a German producer of specialty chemicals, as well as its 50% joint-venture investment in Austria (share deal) and major assets (asset deal) in many countries. The seller was a U.S. chemicals company listed on the NYSE. The transaction volume was between 150 and 250 million euros.
Advice provided to a global specialty-chemicals group listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX)
Advising a real estate group specializing in real estate and project development on the sale of a project company to a nationwide family business with a focus on construction and project development, which uses digital construction processes, pre-fabrication to create affordable (subsidised) housing. The transaction volume was between EUR 5 and 25 million.
Advising a real estate holding company on the sale of a project company with a construction option for around 180 privately financed residential units as part of a district development with a mix of office, retail, hotel, residential and KITA uses to an Austrian group of companies. The transaction volume was between EUR 5 and 25 million.
Advice provided to a southern Germany-based real estate company specialised in property and project development, on the sale of a partial area under leasehold to a global leader in food discounting. The area comprises of around 44,000 square metres in the Munich area. The property is to be used to create attractive retail space, offices, a hotel and modern apartments in the course of the project’s continued development.
Advice provided to a seller on the sale of its DIY-store division – with about 5,200 employees and annual net revenue of about 760 million euros – to a leading company in the German hardware-store industry. The focus of the advice was on the transfer of commercial leases for 133 business locations, as well as an even larger number of subleases, through a mixed share and asset deal with the prior spin-off into a special purpose property company.
Advice provided to a leading food retailer in Germany
Advising a strategic buyer on the acquisition of a manufacturer specialized in the construction of customized vehicles (in particular market vehicles, food trucks and sanitary trailers) as part of a buy & build strategy. The buyer had already acquired another leading special vehicle manufacturer in 2017. Together, the companies employ more than 150 people and generate annual sales of more than EUR 20 million.
Advice provided to a leading German automotive supplier on the acquisition of the automobile division of a public company listed on the Nasdaq in Helsinki. The transaction volume was 600 million euros. The essential element of the transaction was the approximately 1,900 software developers and their knowledge in the area of automated driving.
Advising private equity funds, (majority or minority) shareholders or their portfolio companies on the sale of shares (share deal), assets (asset deal) or a participation including a possible re-investment of the management shareholders in the acquisition vehicle of the acquirer by way of an auction or exclusive negotiations (transaction volume between EUR 25 up to 250 million), inter alia on / in:
Advising venture capital funds in the phases from seed to early to growth stage with a focus on national and international tech startups, including investments and financing rounds (usually between EUR 2 to 8 million) in: