Mutares Wins Bid for Acquisition of ÖBB Subsidiary Q Logistics

On Friday, 25 October 2019, the listed company Indus­trie­holding Mutares SE & Co. KGaA was notified that it had won the bid for the acquis­i­tion of Q Logistics GmbH, a logistics subsi­diary of the Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundes­bahnen – Holding Aktiengesell­schaft, ÖBB). Mutares had submitted a binding offer for the takeover on 18 October 2019.

The takeover is subject to the usual conditions and approvals and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019 or the first quarter of 2020.

Mutares, which focuses on the acquisition of corporate spin-offs with operational improvement potential, relies on its own team of specialists with longstanding expertise along the entire value chain to enhance the profitability of the acquired companies.

Q Logistics is a provider of cross-border transport logistics and warehousing services, with a nationwide network in Austria. In the financial year 2018, Q Logistics recorded group turnover (including a subsidiary in the Czech Republic) in the amount of some EUR 250 million and employed a total of 920 persons.

Binder Grösswang advised Mutares on the bidding process. The Binder Grösswang team was led by Thomas Schirmer (partner, Corporate/M&A) and included Wolfgang Guggenberger (senior associate) and Felix Fuith (associate). The team was additionally supported by Ivo Rungg (partner), Michael Horak (counsel) and Philipp Spring (senior associate) for IT and IP issues, Johannes Barbist (partner) and Regina Kröll (senior associate) for public law matters, Christian Wimpissinger (partner) and Clemens Willvonseder (senior associate) for tax law, Horst Lukanec (partner) and Sabine Apfl-Trompeter (senior associate) for employment law concerns, Alexander Kramer (counsel) for real estate matters, Christine Dietz (partner) for competition law issues, and Gottfried Gassner (partner) for restructuring matters.

On the part of Mutares, the transaction was supervised from the legal perspective by General Counsel Jan Thöle.