Freshfields advises Cinven on investment in Fressnapf

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) advises Cinven, the leading international private equity firm focused on building world-class global and European companies, on the planned investment in Fressnapf. Concurrently, it is contemplated that Fressnapf will acquire full control of the Arcaplanet Group from Cinven.

The Fressnapf Group is a leading European pet care retailer. Since the opening of the first “Fressnapf” specialty store in 1990 in Erkelenz (NRW), founder Torsten Toeller has remained the owner of the company and will remain the majority shareholder. The company is headquartered in Krefeld, with further offices in Venlo (NL) and in the national subsidiaries. The Fressnapf Group is currently active in 14 countries and, together with Arcaplanet, operates more than 2,600 specialty stores.

The Freshfields team was led by Partner Wessel Heukamp (Corporate/M&A, Munich), Partner Victoria Sigeti (Corporate/M&A, London) and Principal Associate Maximilian Hobuß (Corporate /M&A, Munich).

The Freshfields team further comprised Associate Giulia Zöller (Corporate/M&A, Munich), Partner David Beutel, Counsel Martin Rehberg and Principal Associate Julian Siller (all Tax, Munich), Partner Ulrich Sittard and Associate Tobias Kalb (all Employment Law, Munich), Associate Annabelle Hamelin (Data Protection, Berlin) and Associate Miriam Benmoussa (IP/IT, Vienna). Partner Martin McElwee, Counsel Uwe Salaschek and Senior Associate Cara Carr advised on antitrust, foreign direct investment and foreign subsidies matters.