Leading global law firm Clifford Chance has advised Automotive suppliers MAHLE and HELLA on selling their respective 50 percent stake in the Behr-Hella Thermocontrol (BHTC) joint venture to AUO Corporation. The total purchase price is based on an enterprise value of €600 million. The transaction is currently still subject to approval by the relevant foreign trade and antitrust authorities.
The agreed sale of shares is the result of constructive discussions between MAHLE and HELLA regarding the future positioning and direction of BHTC and will allow BHTC to have greater growth opportunities.
BHTC, headquartered in Germany, is a leading company in the field of air conditioning control as well as a specialist for system solutions in the field of Human-Machine-Interface. BHTC currently employs around 2,900 people worldwide and was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between the two equal shareholders MAHLE and HELLA.
AUO Corporation is a world-leading innovator in display technologies and solutions headquartered in Taiwan, and operates across Asia, the U.S. and Europe, with a global team of 38,000 people.
The Clifford Chance team for MAHLE and HELLA was led by partner Christian Vogel and comprised senior associate Ribana Piontek, associate Tobias Jenne and legal project manager Jens Gleim (all Corporate/M&A), partner Dimitri Slobodenjuk, of counsel Joachim Schütze and senior associate Hendrik Kühn (all Merger Control/FDI), partners Thomas Voland and Gunnar Sachs, counsel Haruka Okihara, senior associate Yannick Frost, associates Laura-Isabell Dietz and Marlene Kießling (all Corporate/Regulatory), partner Gerold Jaeger and senior associate David Rahmel (both Real Estate), partner Claudia Milbradt and counsel Florian Reiling (both IP, all Düsseldorf), partner Ines Keitel and counsel Christopher Fischer (both Employment, Frankfurt), partner Olaf Mertgen, senior associate Steffen Waadt and counsel Cord von Mandelsloh (all Tax, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf) as well as partner Bettina Steinhauer and associate Marius Fritz (both Global Financial Markets, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf).
Inhouse advice was provided by Julia Wagner (Director Corporate Legal Department Automotive) and Jörg Kiefer (General Counsel) at MAHLE, as well as Detlev Bökenkamp (General Counsel) and Ann-Katrin Dittschar (Senior Corporate Legal Counsel) at HELLA.
