Gleiss Lutz advises ZF on establishment of joint venture with KPIT Technologies to develop middleware software platform

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A Gleiss Lutz team has advised ZF Friedrichshafen AG on the establishment of independent company Qorix together with KPIT Technologies to jointly develop and market a middleware software platform. Incorporation of the joint venture is still subject to the customary regulatory clearances and expected to be completed in the second half of 2023.

The middleware platform acts as an intermediary between the vehicle's operating system and its software applications. Its open hardware and software architecture will intelligently connect vehicle hardware systems, minimise interfaces, speed up communication between vehicle parts and reduce integration complexity. Key functions include the abstraction of the computer hardware from software applications and the communication between these applications. The middleware platform is key to successfully achieving industry 4.0 system integration in vehicles.

Qorix will have its headquarters in Munich and will operate in Germany and India.

Headquartered in Friedrichshafen, ZF is a global technology company supplying systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology, enabling the next generation of mobility.

KPIT Technologies is an Indian multinational company specialising in the development of software for the mobility industry. It has engineering centres in Europe, the U.S., Japan, China, Thailand and India.

In-house, the transaction was handled by Dr. Martin Grabolle (M&A/Cooperations ZF Group), Dr. Martin Kay, Dr. Gabriele Beiter (both Legal), Dr. Werner Riegel (IP) and Sebastian Windolf (Antitrust).

The following Gleiss Lutz team led by Dr. Ralf Morshäuser (partner, M&A) and Dr. Matthias Werner (both lead, counsel, IP and Commercial, both Munich) advised ZF on the transaction: Dr. Tobias Falkner (counsel), Dr. Julius Scheifele, Dr. Moritz Alexander Riesener, Dr. Stephanie Dausinger (all M&A, all Munich), Dr. Johann Wagner (partner, Tax, Hamburg), Dr. Jacob von Andreae (partner), Aylin Hoffs (both Public Business Law, both Düsseldorf), Dr. Matthias Karl (partner) Dr. Philipp Pichler (counsel, both Competition/Antitrust, both Stuttgart), Felizitas Casper (IP and Commercial, Munich).​