Hengeler Mueller advises Weichai Power on strategic alliance with KION Group

03. September 2012

Weichai Power Ltd. (Weichai) has entered into a strategic alliance with KION Group GmbH (KION). Under the terms of the agreement, Weichai will invest a total of EUR 738 m to acquire a 25% stake in KION via a capital increase and a 70% majority stake in KION’s hydraulic business. In this context, Weichai will become anchor investor and strategic partner of KION. Core of the strategic partnership is a close cooperation in the field of material handling and hydraulic drive technology.

The partnership is a landmark transaction, being the largest Chinese direct investment in Germany to date.

Weichai, a leading Chinese automotive and equipment manufacturing group, is a part of the Shandong Heavy Industry Group. KION is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial trucks and a global leader in hydraulic technology.

Hengeler Mueller has advised Weichai on this transaction. The Hengeler Mueller team included partners Wolfgang Meyer-Sparenberg, Christian Möller, Maximilian Schiessl (all M&A), Alf-Henrik Bischke (Competition), Wolfgang Kellenter (IP/IT) (all Düsseldorf), Christian Hoefs (Labour, Frankfurt) as well as associates Benjamin Leyendecker, Changfeng Tu, Wolfram Joppich, Matthias Cloppenburg, Malte Jaguttis, Eva Frankenberger, Ge Jiang (all Düsseldorf), Hendrik Bockenheimer (Frankfurt), Patrick H. Wilkening (Berlin) and Sebastian Brack (Munich).

Within framework of this transaction, Hengeler Mueller worked together in a team with King & Wood Mallesons (Xu Ping, Mark Schaub).

Responsible for this transaction within Weichai’s in-house legal department was Jeffrey Y. Chen (General Counsel).