Binder Grösswang Advised Gilde Buy Out Partners on Sale of Powerlines Group to ENGIE Ineo

Binder Grösswang  advised the private equity fund Gilde Buy Out Partners (Gilde) and 17 other sellers on the sale of the Austria-based Powerlines Group GmbH (Powerlines). The entire Powerlines Group, including important locations in Germany and Great Britain, has been purchased by the French energy group ENGIE Ineo, which won the bidding process.

Following the assessment and approval of the transaction by the competent merger control authorities in the jurisdictions concerned, the sale was finally closed on 3 October 2019. The parties have agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction.

Gilde Buy Out Partners is a leading medium-sized private equity house in the Benelux and DACH regions. Gilde manages funds with a total value of over EUR 3 billion and has offices in Utrecht, Brussels, Frankfurt and Zurich.

Powerlines is one of Europe’s leading independent suppliers of electrification for various infrastructure facilities and, as such, provides systems for the planning, installation and maintenance of overhead lines for railways and local mass transit as well as high-voltage transmission lines. Powerlines provides the complete range of services for urban mass transit (underground, trams and trolleybuses) as well as for intercity transit (standard and high-speed mainline rail routes).

Through the acquisition of the Powerlines Group, ENGIE Ineo can provide complete, turnkey solutions (financing, design, installation and maintenance) for electric transit infrastructure projects.

Binder Grösswang ’s core team for this transaction, led by Corporate/M&A partners Thomas Schirmer and Bernd Schneiderbauer, included Wolfgang Guggenberger (senior associate) and Felix Fuith (associate), and was additionally supported by Christian Wimpissinger (partner) and Alexander Nicolas Hiermann (associate) on tax law issues.