DLA Piper has advised the Meridian Foundation as founding shareholder of Metro AG on a shareholder agreement with EP Global Commerce (EPGC). The agreement will take effect upon completion of the intended delisting of Metro AG by EPGC.

The two founding shareholders Meridian and the Beisheim Group have held a stake in Metro AG since 1964 and hold a total of 24.99% of the voting rights. In the agreement, they have arranged for the largest shareholder, EPGC, to take on business management responsibilities of the Metro AG after the delisting. United by their pooling agreement, the two founding shareholders remain entitled to freely exercise their voting rights at the Metro annual general meeting.

The delisting of Metro AG is intended to accelerate and facilitate the required transformational measures already initiated by the management board. Meridian and Beisheim will continue as shareholders of Metro AG and will not tender their shares into EPGC’s delisting offer.

The Meridian Stiftung is a charitable foundation whose shareholdings are managed by Palatin Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Essen.

The DLA Piper team was co-led by partners Dr Roland Maaß (Capital Markets) and Andreas Füchsel (Private Equity/M&A, both Frankfurt).

Also included were partner Dr Gunne Bähr, counsel Dr Volker Lemmer (both Insurance, Cologne), Juliane Poss (Capital Markets) and senior associate Philipp Meyer Reichen (Private Equity/M&A; both Frankfurt).