Gleiss Lutz has advised Syngenta International AG on its acquisition of the Swedish Lantmännen Group’s winter wheat and winter oilseed rape businesses in Germany and Poland. The transaction was organized as an auction process and structured as a combined asset and share deal.
As part of the transaction, Syngenta and Lantmännen will also enter into an extensive strategic R&D collaboration with Lantmännen in wheat, and Lantmännen will distribute Syngenta cereals and seeds in Sweden.
Gleiss Lutz has advised Syngenta as lead counsel on all aspects of the M&A transaction and the strategic collaboration and coordinated an international team of legal advisors from Hannes Snellman in Sweden and Schönherr in Poland.
The Gleiss Lutz team consisted of Dr. Patrick Kaffiné (lead, partner, corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Dr. Andreas Wehlau (partner), Dr. Matthias Werner (counsel), Dr. Björn Kalbfus (all IP/IT, Munich), Dr. Stefan Mayer (partner, tax, Frankfurt), Dr. Cindy Lahusen (counsel, tax, Stuttgart), Dr. Johannes Niewerth (Partner), Dr. Fabian Kutz, Dr. Jonas C. Rybarz (all real estate, Berlin), Dr. Iris Benedikt-Buckenleib (antitrust, Munich), Antonia Harbusch (antitrust, Frankfurt), Patrizio Caruso (corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Lars Jeschke, Hendrik Plath (both corporate, M&A, Frankfurt), Dr. Burghard Hildebrandt (partner), Dr. Jacob von Andreae, Dr. Eva Koch (all public business law, Düsseldorf), Dr. Thomas Winzer (partner), Tobias Abend (both employment, Frankfurt).
Syngenta’s in-house legal team was headed by Dr. Thomas Karst, lead counsel M&A/Corporate Venture Capital.
Syngenta is one of the world’s largest agrochemical companies with more than 28,000 employees in over 90 countries. Gleiss Lutz regularly advises the Swiss group on international M&A transactions, including most recently on the public takeover of Devgen NV and the sale of the Euralis Group’s sunflower seed business in Spain and Hungary.
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