Freshfields is advising ZF Friedrichshafen AG, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, on the carve out and internal separation of its Passive Safety Systems division (from its other business activities), which specializes in the development and manufacturing of passive safety devices for passenger cars such as airbags, seatbelts and steering wheels.

The separated passive safety division operates under the new brand ZF Lifetec, employs more than 33,000 employees and achieved sales of around EUR 4.7 billion (in 2023). It is one of the leading passive safety equipment providers with a global presence of 46 locations across 18 jurisdictions.

The carve-out has been completed on 1 October 2024 and included more than 20 business separations in 12 jurisdictions and more than 50 share transfers. Freshfields advised on all relevant legal and carve-out strategical matters and the German core team coordinated local counsel in 22 jurisdictions.

The Freshfields team was led by partner Stephan Waldhausen and counsel Stefan Bajohr (both Corporate/M&A, both Düsseldorf) and also included

• Partners: Christoph Gleske (Capital Markets, Frankfurt), Ulrich Sittard, Thomas Granetzny (both Employment Law, Düsseldorf), Uta Itzen (Antitrust, Düsseldorf), Gerrit M. Beckhaus (Real Estate, Hamburg), Nicola Asti (Corporate/M&A, Milan), David Franco (Corporate/M&A, Madrid), Takeshi Nakao (Corporate/M&A, Tokio)
• Counsel: Olaf Ehlers (Corporate/M&A, New York), Sascha Arnold (Regulatory, Hamburg), Mariusz Motyka-Mojkowski (Antitrust, Berlin)
• Associates: Julia Mink, Constanze Roth, Jonas Braun, Anna Eichner, Eva Wickerath (all Düsseldorf), Giulia Zöller (München), David Hart (Amsterdam), Nicole Johnson (New York), Chiyokazu Shindo, Takahiro Sato (both Tokio), Íñigo Ríos (Madrid, all Corporate/M&A), Daniel von Bülow (Capital Markets, Frankfurt), Judith Ricarda Römer (Hamburg), Manuel Jäger (Düsseldorf), Johanna Hirth (Frankfurt, all Employment Law), Laura Druckenbrodt, Eike Christian Jani (both Real Estate, Hamburg), Tobias Klatt (Regulatory, Düsseldorf)
• Transaction Lawyers/Paralegals: Chelsia Tai, Vielka Hernández Ceballos, Liliana Margarita Suarez Llerena, Terry Fernbach (all Frankfurt), Stephanie Adriaens (Berlin, all Freshfields Hub), Iskander Ong (Amsterdam)