Skip to main content

Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

News and awards

Clifford Chance advises DP World on its proposed acquisition of Imperial Logistics

  • en
  • de
  • Language options

9 July 2021

Clifford Chance advises DP World on its proposed acquisition of Imperial Logistics

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance is advising long standing client DP World on its proposed acquisition (by way of scheme of arrangement) of JSE-listed Imperial Logistics, a logistics and market access solutions provider with operations across Africa and Europe.

The acquisition of Imperial provides significant strategic value by complementing the DP World group's existing footprint in Africa and Europe and enabling DP World to deliver an end-to-end solution to cargo owners across a wide and highly competitive market.

Deniz Tas commented: "We are honoured to have supported our long-standing client DP World on this strategic transaction which will be its most significant investment in Africa to date".

The Clifford Chance team drew expertise from various practice groups and offices across its network and was supported by South African local counsel, Webber Wentzel.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partners Deniz Tas (Dubai Corporate), Tim Lewis (London Corporate) and Robin Abraham (Dubai/London Finance). The partners were assisted by a core team of associates including senior associates Zahra Shahab (Dubai Corporate), Bola Coker (Dubai Finance), Monica Gemes (London Corporate) and Rizwan Butt (Dubai Corporate); associates Tammie Le (Dubai Corporate) and Holly Anderson (London Corporate); and trainee Megan Hodges (Dubai Corporate).

They were assisted by:

  • Antitrust: Greg Olsen (partner, London), Stavroula Vryna (senior associate, London), Michael Rueter (senior associate, London), Mehjabin Ahmed (associate, London), Josh Kennion (associate, London) and Sophie Scholl (associate, London).
  • Wider corporate/M&A: Thomas Krecek (partner, Frankfurt), Jeroen Thijssen (partner, Amsterdam), Tariq Imam (partner, Dubai), Paolo Sersale (partner, Milan), Niek De Pauw (partner, Brussels), Pieter De Bock (counsel, Brussels), Natalie Hemberger (associate, Frankfurt), Sanne Blankestijn (associate, Amsterdam), Carolina Ribaldone (associate, Milan) and Thijs Legters (PSL, Amsterdam).
  • Incentives: Andrew Patterson (partner, London), Lauren Evans (senior associate, London) and Rishiv Rathore (associate, London).
  • Employment and Pensions: Chinwe Chapman-Odimba (partner, London), Sarah McAleer (partner, London), Ines Keitel (partner, Frankfurt), Amy Bird (senior associate, London), Matthew Preston (senior associate, London), Eleanor Griffin (associate, London) and Dr. Ines Marin (senior associate, Munich).
  • Environment: Nigel Howorth (partner, London) and Jamie Salsman (associate, London).
  • IP: Vanessa Marsland (partner, London).
  • Litigation: Arun Visweswaran (senior associate, Dubai) and Lana Ristic (associate, Dubai)
  • AML/Sanctions: George Kleinfeld (partner, Washington), Patricia Barratt (director, London), and Holly Bauer (associate, Washington)

The Webber Wentzel team was led by corporate partners Gareth Driver and Seraj Haroun.
Ranked 1st for M&A in the Middle East and Africa by Mergermarket in 2020, Clifford Chance regularly advises on the region's most high profile, largest and innovative M&A transactions. The firm recently advised PIF on its US$69 billion sale of its stake in SABIC to Saudi Aramco; AD Power's US$20 billion sale to TAQA; Al Khaliji Commercial Bank on the signing of its merger agreement with Masraf Al Rayan, creating one of the Middle East's largest Shariah-compliant banking groups with assets and shareholder equity worth more than 183 billion Qatari Riyals; NCB on its US$223 billion merger with Samba; SABB on its US$70 billion merger with Al-Awwal Bank; and UNB on its US$114 billion merger with ADCB and Al Hilal Bank.

Clifford Chance berät DP World zur geplanten Übernahme von Imperial Logistics

Die internationale Anwaltssozietät Clifford Chance hat DP World aus Dubai, einen globalen Anbieter von Supply-Chain-Lösungen, bei der geplanten Übernahme des an der Johannesburger Börse gelisteten Unternehmens Imperial Logistics, beraten. Die Transaktion erfolgt im Wege eines Scheme of Arrangement.

Die Übernahme von Imperial, einem Anbieter von Logistik- und Marktzugangslösungen mit Aktivitäten in Afrika und Europa, ist strategisch sehr bedeutsam, da sie die bestehende Präsenz der DP World-Gruppe in diesen Regionen ergänzt. DP World wird durch die Transaktion Frachteigentümern eine End-to-End-Lösung in einem hart umkämpften Markt anbieten können.

Corporate-Partner Deniz Tas aus dem Clifford Chance Büro in Dubai kommentiert: "Wir freuen uns, dass wir unsere langjährige Mandantin DP World bei dieser strategischen Transaktion, die ihre bisher bedeutendste Investition in Afrika sein wird, unterstützt haben."

Das internationale Clifford Chance-Team für DP World stand unter Leitung der Partner Deniz Tas (Corporate, Dubai), Tim Lewis (Corporate, London) und Robin Abraham (Finance, Dubai/London) und umfasste Praxisgruppen und Büros aus dem gesamten Clifford Chance-Netzwerk.

Aus Deutschland berieten die Partner Dr. Thomas Krecek (Frankfurt) und Dr. Mathias Elspaß, Senior Associate Carolin Kemmner (beide Düsseldorf), die Associates Natalie Hemberger (Frankfurt), Dr. Frederic Mainka, Marlene Kießling (beide Düsseldorf) und Iliana Diedrich (Frankfurt, alle Corporate) sowie Partnerin Dr. Ines Keitel (Frankfurt) und Senior Associate Dr. Ines Marin (München, beide Employment), Partner Reinhard Scheer-Hennings (Düsseldorf), Senior Associate Alexander Shemyakin (Frankfurt) und Associate David Rahmel (Düsseldorf, alle Real Estate), Partnerin Dr. Claudia Milbradt und Senior Associate Dr. Nicolas Hohn-Hein (beide IP, Düsseldorf) sowie Partner Dr. Dimitri Slobodenjuk und Senior Associate Caroline Scholke (beide Investitionskontrolle, Düsseldorf).

Zudem waren Anwältinnen und Anwälte aus den Clifford Chance-Büros in Amsterdam, Brüssel, Mailand sowie Washington tätig.

Das Clifford Chance-Team wurde außerdem von der südafrikanischen Anwaltskanzlei Webber Wentzel unterstützt.