Advising on a EUR €420m, multi-jurisdictional acquisition

 

Eversheds Sutherland advises Element Solutions on its acquisition of Coventya

A cross-border team from Eversheds Sutherland has advised Element Solutions Inc (Element Solutions) on its binding offer to acquire Coventya Holding SAS (Coventya). Under the terms of the offer, Element Solutions will acquire Coventya for approximately EUR €420m.

Element Solutions is a global and diversified specialty chemicals company while Coventya is a provider of specialty chemicals for the surface finishing industry. The acquisition will improve Element Solutions’ breadth and quality of solutions it provides across key markets.

An M&A team from Eversheds Sutherland’s London and Paris offices advised Element Solutions on all aspects of the deal including corporate, commercial and competition matters. The deal team utilised the firm’s legal project management team to project manage the international aspects of the transaction and to drive efficiencies throughout the progression of the deal, ensuring client and legal advisers were connected throughout each step of the acquisition. 

The acquisition was conducted under French law, the transactional elements of which were led by Eversheds Sutherland’s Paris-based Corporate capability. Advice included the negotiation of the sales and purchase agreement, and conducting the Foreign Direct Investment assessment in respect of all target jurisdictions. Assistance was also provided by other offices in Eversheds Sutherland’s global network of Alliance and Relationship firms.

The team advising on the deal from Paris included Franck Bourgeois, Partner, Corporate; Dan Roskis, Partner, Commercial; and Fabrice Martinez-Tournalia, Principal Associate, Corporate. In London, the team included Robin Johnson, Partner and Co-Chair Eversheds Sutherland’s Cross-Border M&A Team; and Wyn Jones, Head of Legal Project Management.

In addition, the Eversheds Sutherland team provided due diligence across target entities in 15 jurisdictions, including: Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and the US.

Robin Johnson, said:

“This acquisition is testament to the strength of our global, end-to-end capability and experience when advising on cross-border M&A. In addition to deep knowledge of M&A, the team fully utilised our legal project management team which acted as the connective tissues in ensuring we were able to get the deal done. Credit too to our all offices involved in the transaction, including the network of Alliance and Relationship firms to ensure a smooth and expedited outcome for our client, Element Solutions.”

The deal was announced by Element Solutions on 11 June 2021.