Clifford Chance advises Mitsui and Nutrinova VP4 upstream integration
Clifford Chance has advised Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) and Nutrinova Netherlands B.V. (Nutrinova), Mitsui’s equity-method affiliate active in the manufacture and sale of functional food ingredients, on the upstream integration of VP4 Frankfurt GmbH (VP4), a manufacturer of key intermediate ingredients for the sweeteners and preservatives produced by Nutrinova. The firm also advised on Mitsui’s acquisition of an additional 19% interest in Nutrinova from co-shareholder Celanese Corporation (Celanese), a U.S. chemical company.
Deal details
Following completion of the transactions, Mitsui’s ownership stake in Nutrinova will rise to 89%, making Nutrinova a consolidated subsidiary of Mitsui.
Clifford Chance’s advice also extended to insolvency-related developments affecting the former Heubach-owned VP4 facility, as well as the subsequent development and implementation of the long-term ownership, manufacturing and supply framework underpinning the transactions.
The Team
The Clifford Chance team was led by partners Tobias Nogami Kamerling (corporate, Düsseldorf) and Stefan Sax (restructuring, Frankfurt), and included counsel Haruka Okihara and senior associate Kathrin Schroeder-Finckh (both corporate, Düsseldorf). Further support was provided by partner Matthew Warner, associate Susan Trepekli and associate Wei Bin Tan (all corporate, New York); partner Caroline Scholke, associate Patricia Trapp (both antitrust, Düsseldorf) and partner Masafumi Shikakura (antitrust, Tokyo); partner Gunnar Sachs, senior associate Marlene Kießling and associate Yannik Trauschold (all corporate, Düsseldorf); senior associate Marie Georgi and associate Benedikt Behlert (both energy & infrastructure, Düsseldorf); partner Natsuko Sugihara, senior associates Yuki Hoshinaga and Lewin Lim (all corporate, Tokyo); partner Olaf Mertgen and counsel Steffen Waadt (both tax, Frankfurt); partner Andreas Steiger (restructuring, Munich); partner Jeroen Thijssen and senior associate Sebastiaan van Steenbergen (both corporate, Amsterdam); and partner Paul Seraganian (tax, New York), along with additional lawyers from across the Clifford Chance network.
