News and Deals
News and Deals
Linklaters advises Volkswagen AG on the possible sale of Volkswagen Osnabrück GmbH to Aurelius Capital Ltd. and the state of Lower Saxony. The transaction envisages that Aurelius, as the majority owner, will take over Volkswagen Osnabrück GmbH together with the state of Lower Saxony. The aim of this transaction is to preserve the site in the long term.
Aurelius and the state of Lower Saxony intend to develop the site into a center of excellence for security and defense solutions in the coming years. The first anchor project is a collaboration be-tween Aurelius and the state of Lower Saxony with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.
Volkswagen had decided in 2024 to phase out vehicle production at the Osnabrück site in the summer of 2027. The company will accompany the transition to the new shareholder structure and contribute its industrial experience, its expertise in development and industrialization as well as the existing infrastructure to the further process.
The cross-practice team for the transaction was led by Ralph Wollburg (partner, Chairman Global Corporate and Co-Head of Global M&A) and Marco Huchzermeier (counsel, Corporate/M&A). It also included partners Arne Kießling (Corporate/M&A), Kaan Gürer, René Döring (Employment & Incentives) and Markus Appel (Environmental and Planning), counsels Luca Rawe (Employment & Incentives) and Laura von Samson-Himmelstjerna (Real Estate), managing associates Kristina Willmes, Maximilian Mann (both Corporate/M&A), Yuxin Weirich (Antitrust & Foreign Investment) and Jens Weuthen (Environmental and Planning), as well as associates Anna-Lina Hausmann (Corporate/M&A), Colin Laws (Employment & Incentives), Svenja Jobski (Real Estate), Jonas Baumann, Marc Heusel, Felix Wichert and Antonia Mertens (all TMT).
Linklaters advises Volkswagen on all strategic corporate law issues as well as complex international transactions, most recently on the sale of a majority stake in Everllence SE.