Linklaters advises Volkswagen Group on the sale of its shares in Volkswagen Group Rus

Volkswagen Group has completed the sale of its shares in Volkswagen Group Rus LLC including its local subsidiaries (Volkswagen Components and Services LLC, Scania Leasing LLC, Scania Finance LLC, Scania Insurance LLC) to Art-Finance LLC who is supported by the Russian Dealer Avilon. With the registration of the transaction, ownership of the shares in the authorized capital of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC and its subsidiaries is transferred from the sellers to the buyer.

The new owner will acquire all shares in the Russian subsidiaries. The deal has been approved by the Russian government authorities. The transaction includes the production facilities in Kaluga, the importer structure (distribution and after-sales business) and the warehousing and financial services activities with all its associated employees.

Linklaters provided comprehensive legal advice, including all sanction law issues, to the Volkswagen Group in connection with the transaction.

The cross-border and cross-practice Linklaters team was led by Achim Kirchfeld (Partner, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Dr Timo Engelhardt (Partner, Corporate/M&A, Munich), and Dr Ruprecht von Maltzahn (Counsel, Corporate/M&A, Munich). The integrated team advising on sanction law issues was led by Dr Kerstin Wilhelm (Partner, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations/German Co-Head of Crisis Management & Compliance, Munich). The wider Linklaters team included Dr Ralph Wollburg (Partner, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Prof. Dr Daniela Seeliger (Partner, Antitrust & Foreign Investment, Düsseldorf), Andreas Schaflitzl (Partner, Tax, Munich), Dr Julia Grothaus (Partner, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, Frankfurt), Dr Daniel Pauly (Partner, TMT, Frankfurt), Dr Michael Leicht (Partner, TMT, Frankfurt), Stefan Loosveld (Partner, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, Belgium), Alison Saunders (Partner, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, London), Denis Uvarov (Partner, Corporate/M&A, Paris), Kaan Gürer (Counsel, Antitrust & Foreign Investment, Düsseldorf), Dr Anna-Katharina Lohbeck (Counsel, TMT, Frankfurt), Evgeniya Rakhmanina (Counsel, Co-Lead Regulatory Approvals, Antitrust & Foreign Investment, London), Elly Proudlock (Counsel, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, London), Sterling Darling (Counsel, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, Washington DC), Dr Luise Winkler (Managing Associate, Co-Lead Commercial Contracts, Corporate/M&A, Munich) Marco Huchzermeier (Managing Associate, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Dr Alexander Zitzl (Managing Associate, Tax, Munich), Jacqueline Kusserow, (Managing Associate, Co-Lead Sanktionsrecht, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, Munich), Valeria Markina (Associate, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, London), Yuxin Weirich, Tim Heintze, Nina Seydel (all Associates, Antitrust & Foreign Investment, Düsseldorf), Nikolay Altukhov, Mikhail Fufaev(both Foreign Associates, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Maike Michels (Associate, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, Munich), Daniel Gloor, Andreas Rerich, Mirco Schindler (all Associates, Corporate/M&A, Munich), Kamaljot Kaur Dhadda (Associate, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, Frankfurt), Lena Mischau (Associate, TMT, Frankfurt), Lucas Marlow, Hannes Ingwersen (both Associate, Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations, Frankfurt), Svetlana Eisner (Associate, Corporate/M&A, New York), Austin Lowe (US-Associate, Antitrust & Foreign Investment, Washington DC).