WOLF THEISS ADVISES OBI ON TAKEOVER OF DIY STORES IN AUSTRIA
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Vienna, 10 June 2010 – Wolf Theiss advised its long-standing client, OBI Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Systemzentrale GmbH, on the acquisition of nine DIY stores in Austria. The newly acquired OBI branches are located in Styria and Carinthia and OBI acquired them by purchasing imo Markt GmbH, which had already been operating as an OBI franchisee. OBI Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte, which belongs to the Tengelmann Group, already has more than 540 locations in 13 Central and Eastern European countries. In Austria, the first OBI stores were opened in 1996. Currently, 32 stores are operated by franchisers or OBI itself. Wolf Theiss assisted OBI with its acquisition of 9 existing DIY stores with locations in Graz (2 stores), Fohnsdorf, Gralla, Klagenfurt, Villach, Spital an der Drau, Wolfsberg and St. Veit an der Glan, in a complete takeover of imo Markt GmbH by share deal. imo Markt GmbH, founded by the industrialist family Niedersüß, was also the largest franchisee of the German building materials and DIY chain in Austria. Due to the acquisition, the number of OBI-operated stores rose to almost 50 %. The transaction still requires approval by the competent competition law authorities. Georg Kresbach, the partner who headed the project at Wolf Theiss, explains: "One of the challenges involved in this deal was the enormous time pressure under which it had to be closed. Because both the land and the immovables on it remain with the previous owner, it was necessary to tailor a special solution. We are pleased that we managed to obtain a truly satisfactory result for our client in such a short time." Besides Georg Kresbach, the Wolf Theiss partners Clemens Trauttenberg (franchising law) and Gabriele Etzl (real estate law), counsel Jochen Anweiler (competition law) and associate Maria Griesmayr were involved in this deal. Download .pdf > Download Photo Georg Kresbach > |
