Baker McKenzie advised Knorr-Bremse AG on the sale of its 85% stake in Kiepe Electric GmbH, a company focused on decarbonization of commercial and public transportation, to Heramba GmbH, thereby creating a unique pure-play global leader in sustainable transportation.
“It was a pleasure to support Knorr-Bremse on all legal and tax aspects of this highly complex and lengthy process. Due to the business combination and de-SPAC being prepared in parallel between Heramba and Project Energy Reimagined Acquisition Corp., several legal and other work streams and jurisdictions had to be coordinated and pursued simultaneously. It is therefore all the more satisfying that we were able to bring this transaction to a successful end together with the Knorr-Bremse team.” commented Jakub Lorys, partner at Baker McKenzie.
Knorr-Bremse, a public company based in Munich, is the world’s leading manufacturer of braking systems and a leading supplier of safety-relevant subsystems for rail and commercial vehicles. Knorr-Bremse is part of the German stock market index MDAX.
Kiepe Electric is a global leader in the electrification of road and rail urban transportation applications, including designing, manufacturing and implementing power electronics products, electric drives and vehicle controls hardware for rail vehicles and electric buses. The company, with six international locations in Europe and North America, generated sales of approximately 120 million euros in 2022. More than 550 employees develop efficient and ecologically sustainable concepts for the mobility transition in public transport. Recent innovation highlights include the new modular HPC platform for 12-, 18- and 24-meter e-buses and high-power charging infrastructure solutions for e-buses up to 800 kW inclusive battery storage systems.
Heramba is a special-purpose company founded in 2023 and focused on clean energy and transportation, specifically looking for promising companies in the e-mobility segment, and on investing in companies with technologies and capabilities that can accelerate the decarbonization of commercial transportation. Heramba is headquartered in Berlin and Atlanta. In October 2023, Heramba entered into a business combination agreement with Project Energy Reimagined Acquisition Corp., a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) listed on Nasdaq. Following completion of the contemplated business combination, the combined company’s securities are expected to be listed on Nasdaq.
Baker McKenzie’s Corporate/M&A practice regularly advises on domestic and international transactions. Most recently, Baker McKenzie advised Transcom on its acquisition of timeframe, Sika AG on its acquisition of MBCC Group from Lone Star and sale of MBCC’s concrete admixtures business to Cinven, Senwes Ltd on the acquisition of four agricultural machinery dealers in the federal states of former East Germany, AURELIUS on the acquisition of LSG Group from Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Nokian Tyres plc on the sale of its Russian business to Tatneft PJSC, First Solar on the sale of its global O&M business to NovaSource, Fluidra on the acquisition of the Meranus Group and Magna on the acquisition of the Veoneer Active Safety division.
