Freshfields advises UPM on €1.42bn JV with Sappi
Freshfields has advised UPM-Kymmene on a definitive agreement with Sappi to establish a non-listed, independent 50/50 joint venture for graphic paper, bringing together UPM’s Communication Papers business with Sappi’s European graphic paper operations.
The contributed businesses carry a combined enterprise value of €1.42bn, with UPM Communication Papers valued at €1.1bn and Sappi’s European business at €320m. The transaction aims to secure supply continuity for graphic paper customers in Europe and strengthen the resilience of the European graphic paper industry.
Completion is subject to review by the European Commission and regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions, including the US and China, with closing expected by the end of 2026.
Freshfields team
The Freshfields transaction and M&A team was led by partner Patrick Cichy (Hamburg/Frankfurt, pictured), alongside principal associates Benjamin Jung, Simon Schulte-Lübberding and Valentin Müller (all Hamburg).
The merger control team was led by partners Frank Montag, Tone Oeyen and Vanessa van Weelden, together with principal associate Aurélie Morreale (all Brussels).
The broader Freshfields team included partners Martin McElwee (Antitrust, London/Brussels), Farid Sigari-Majd (Corporate/M&A, Vienna), Simone Bono and Nina Heym (both Finance, London and Frankfurt respectively), Philipp Dohnke and Elisabeth Wulf (both IP/IT, Hamburg), Stefan Schröder, Michael Ramb (both Regulatory, Düsseldorf/Berlin), Stephan Denk (Regulatory, Vienna), Thomas Granetzny (Employment Law, Düsseldorf) and Alexander Schwahn (Tax, Hamburg).
At counsel level, the team featured Marius Scherb (Hamburg), Alexander Ruschkowski (Frankfurt) and Bert Spijkervet (Amsterdam, all Corporate/M&A), Tom Morgan (Antitrust, New York), Shruti Dusaj (Finance, London), Leonhard Prasser (Employment Law, Vienna) and Björn Junior (Tax, Hamburg).
At principal and senior associate level, the team included Friederike Sibbe and Nina Gissinger (both Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Michael Bo Jaspers (Brussels), Javier Fernández (Madrid), Manuel Jäger (Düsseldorf) and Caroline Chew (London, all Antitrust), as well as Symon Rowley (Employment Law, London).
The associate team comprised Robin-René Hartung, Valentin Bingger, Aleksandar Atanasov, Florian Nicolas Schröder, Martin Hadler, Julia Suttrup and Christoph Beckmann (all Hamburg, Corporate/M&A), Alexandra Ivakhnik, Gisela Santos, Lara Rudnik, Victoria Delettre, Gozde Cevik, Leonardo Stiz, João Azambuja and Signe Sildever (all Brussels, Antitrust), Sarah Mitchell, Isabella Graham and Charlotte MacNamara (all London, Antitrust), Maria Kern and Ornella Trost (both Regulatory, Düsseldorf), Fabienne Gieshoidt and Dominik Storms (Tax and Employment Law respectively, both Hamburg).
Senior transaction lawyers Franz Dahl (Hamburg) and Roxana Botezatu (Berlin) also contributed, alongside legal consultant Greta Fantoni (Antitrust, Brussels).
