Latham & Watkins Advises First Sentier Investors on Sale of Ferngas Group to VKB

Latham & Watkins LLP advised First Sentier Investors on the sale of Ferngas Group (Ferngas) to Versicherungskammer Bayern. The transaction is subject to merger control clearance and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021.

Ferngas owns and operates a regulated gas network in South and East Germany, mainly in the states of Bavaria and Thuringia and extending to adjacent regions.

First Sentier Investors manages more than US$177 billion in assets on behalf of institutional investors, pension funds, wholesale distributors, investment platforms, financial advisers and their clients worldwide. The firm operates as a standalone global investment management business with offices across Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific.

Latham & Watkins represented First Sentier Investors with a team including Düsseldorf partner Tobias Larisch and Munich associate Stephan Hufnagel; with Düsseldorf associates Jörg Ruff, Jaschar Mirkhani, Katharina Intfeld, Florian Feistle, and Felix Gasten. Advice was also provided on regulatory matters by Frankfurt counsel Joachim Grittmann and associate Alexander Wilhelm, on finance matters by London partner Conrad Andersen and counsel Rebecca Crowley, on tax matters by Munich counsel Ulf Kieker, on antitrust matters by Hamburg counsel Jana Dammann, on real-estate matters by Hamburg partner Otto von Gruben and associate Maximilian Berenbrok, on compliance matters by Hamburg associate Stefan Bartz, on employment matters by Munich partner Anne Kleffmann and associate Kristina Steckermeier, and on corporate IP matters by Frankfurt partner Susan Kempe-Mülller and associate Pia Sösemann.