Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises consortium led by CREAT Tiancheng Investment on acquisition of German blood products business

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance advised a consortium of investors led by CREAT Tiancheng Investment Holdings Company Limited on the €940 million financing for the takeover offer by Tiancheng (Germany) Pharmaceutical Holdings AG to acquire Biotest AG, a blood products business listed in Germany.

The financing involved a cross-border team led by partners Timothy Democratis in Beijing and Dr. Bettina Steinhauer in Frankfurt who were supported by associates Dean Bao, Sabrina Bremer and Alexander Hansen Diaz, and trainees Fiona Zhang and Quentin Liu.

Timothy said, "We have enjoyed working alongside the fantastic team at CREAT in this exciting transaction, which demonstrates the growing ambition of PRC investors in their outbound acquisitions and the increasing appetite and ability of PRC lenders to support their clients' M&A activities."

Bettina said, "It was a pleasure to assist the client exploring new territory in the highly complex area of German takeover financing."

This offer is the latest in the trend of interest by PRC investors in acquiring businesses in Germany. In the last year, Clifford Chance has acted for China Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery (Group) Co. Ltd and China Renaissance Capital Investment on the acquisition of Robert Bosch's Starter Motors and Generators business, M.L.S. Electronics Co., LTD on the acquisition of LEDVANCE GmbH from Osram, KUKA AG on its acquisition by investors lead by Midea, and EQT on the sale of EEW Energy from Waste to Beijing Enterprises Holdings.

The transaction also highlights Clifford Chance's leading practice in relation to the financing of public acquisitions of overseas targets by Chinese investors, including acting for China CITIC Bank in relation to the financing for ChemChina's US$45 billion offer to acquire Syngenta AG and advising on the financing for ChemChina's US$7.7 billion bid to acquire Pirelli.

Tim Wang, Co-Managing Partner of Clifford Chance's China offices said, "It is a pleasure working again with our top finance team in Germany. This transaction showcases our ability to help our PRC clients execute the most challenging overseas investments, no matter where they are located or how they are financed."