A team of Gleiss Lutz lawyers has advised Japanese financial investor Nippon Investment Company on the acquisition of the Japanese subsidiary of Pieroth Wein AG. Pieroth Japan generated sales of some EUR 80 million in the financial year 2020. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Nippon Investment Company (NIC) is one of the fastest growing venture capital and private equity investors in Japan and assists Japanese companies with the financing and execution of their long-term strategic expansion plans.
The core business of Pieroth Wein AG and its subsidiaries is the worldwide direct marketing of exclusive wines, sparkling wines, champagnes and spirits, especially in the GAS region (Germany/Austria/Switzerland), Italy and the UK. The Japanese subsidiary that has now been sold will continue to operate under the name of Pieroth Japan. Now that the independently managed Japanese operations have been sold, Pieroth intends to focus entirely on the German and European markets in future.
NIC were advised on the transaction by the following Gleiss Lutz team, headed by Dr. Michael Burian (partner, lead, Frankfurt) and Dr. Torsten Spiegel (Berlin, both M&A): Dr. Matthias Werner (counsel, IP/IT, Munich), Dr. Eric Wagner (partner) and Dr. Britta Kamp (both Dispute Resolution, Stuttgart).
Gleiss Lutz has a market-leading Japan Desk that frequently advises Japanese investors, most recently AEON Co., Ltd as a shareholder of Signa Sports United GmbH on the IPO in New York as part of a de-SPAC transaction and Mitsubishi Electric on the sale of its shares in SAPCORDA Services.
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