April 03, 2019
Germany-based ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF), a leading global technology group and supplier of mobility systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire WABCO (NYSE: WBC) for $136.50 per share for a total equity value of approximately US$7 billion. WABCO is a leading global supplier of braking control systems, technologies and services that improve safety, efficiency and connectivity of commercial vehicles including trucks, buses and trailers. The combination of both businesses is expected to further accelerate the development of new technologies to enable autonomous commercial vehicle functions.
Latham & Watkins represents ZF in the transaction with a cross-border corporate deal team led by Chicago partners Bradley Faris and Jonathan Solomon, and Hamburg partners Stefan Widder, Dirk Kocher, and Nils Röver, with associates Owen Alexander, Megan Staub, Joyce Li, Bendikt Vogt, Jan Michael Danelzik, Florian Döpking, Patrick Robert Rode, Jörg Ruff, Julia-Bianka Schenkel, Jacob Ahme, and Philipp Thomssen, with assistance from Chicago partner Mark Gerstein.
Advice was also provided on tax matters by Chicago partner Diana Doyle, with associate Michael Zucker; on benefits and compensation matters by Chicago partner Robin Struve; on employment law matters by Munich partner Tobias Leder, with associate Kristina Steckermeier; on antitrust matters by San Francisco partner Hanno Kaiser and Hamburg counsel Jana Dammann de Chapto, with associate Niklas Brüggemann; on regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partner Steven Croley; on environmental matters by Hamburg counsel Jörn Kassow; on data protection matters by associate Wolf-Tassilo Böhm; on real estate matters by associates Eun-Kyung Lee and Ann-Sophie Plate; on intellectual property matters by associate Kirsty Watkins; on benefits and compensation matters by associate Stephanie Southard Jeane; and on compliance matters by associate Jamie Marr.