Hengeler Mueller advises BackWerk founders on sale of majority stake in BackWerk to EQT

12. November 2013

The two founders and managing partners Hans Christian Limmer and Dirk Schneider have sold a majority stake in BackWerk group to a private equity fund advised by EQT. The transaction is subject to customary approval by the relevant competition authorities, and is expected to be completed at the latest in the first quarter of 2014.

BackWerk was founded in Essen, Germany, in 2003. With more than 300 stores and 220 franchise partners, BackWerk is one of the leading self-service bakeries in Germany. The system sales amounted to EUR 162 m in 2012.

Hengeler Mueller is advising the founders on the transaction. The Hengeler Mueller team is led by partner Gerd Sassenrath (M&A/Corporate) and includes partners Christian Schwandtner (M&A/Management Participation), Thorsten Mäger (Antitrust) (all Düsseldorf) and Martin Klein (Tax, Frankfurt) as well as counsels Mathias Link (Frankfurt) and Andrea Schlaffge (Düsseldorf) and associates Mikolaj Pogorzelski (Düsseldorf), Jan-Henning Wyen (Munich), Daniel Grätz and Marcel Nuys (both Düsseldorf).