GvW has advised the Bürger Group on its sale of the Lauscha Fiber International Group to the Unifrax Group which belongs to the portfolio of the private equity investor American Securities.

The Lauscha Fiber International Group is one of the most renowned players in the global market of development, production and sale of micro-fine glass fibers which are used by customers all over the world in numerous industrial applications, primarily in the filtration and battery separator markets. The group has approx. 250 employees worldwide and production sites in Germany, Bahrain, China, Russia and the USA.

The Unifrax Group is a global leading producer of insulating materials, including ceramic fiber products, that are used in many high-temperature industrial, automotive and fire protection applications. The group has approx. 2,000 employees and 28 manufacturing facilities in the USA, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, Asia, South Africa and Latin America.

Under the lead of Hamburg based Partners Dr. Dominik Ziegenhahn and Dr. Ritesh Rajani (both Corporate/M&A), the Bürger Group was advised by an international team of attorneys consisting of the GvW partners Dr. Carsten Bittner (Antitrust), Dr. Malte Evers (Employment), Dr. Sigrid Wienhues (Environmental, all Hamburg), Dr. Malte Hiort (Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf) and Patrick Heid (Corporate/M&A, Shanghai) as well as associates Dr. Alexandra Hansmeyer (Shanghai), Florian Puschmann (Hamburg) and Cuifang Wang (Hamburg) (all Corporate/M&A). In the USA, the GvW team was supported by the law firm of Foley & Lardner (Kevin Makowski) and in Bahrain by the law firm of Zeenat Al Mansoori (Amel Al Aseeri, Reem Al Rayes).

The purchaser group was advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Hodgson Russ.

Background

GvW is a partnership of more than 120 attorneys. With German offices in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt/Main, Hamburg and Munich and international offices/representative offices in Alicante, Brussels, Istanbul and Shanghai, GvW is one of the largest independent law firms in Germany.

Following the sale of the Interturbine Aviation Group to B/E Aerospace in summer 2012, the Lauscha Fiber Transaction is the second cross-border M&A transaction of large volume which was led by an international team under the supervision of the Hamburg based Corporate/M&A partners Dr. Dominik Ziegenhahn und Dr. Ritesh Rajani.