Binder Grösswang advised Arval on the acquisition of UniCredit Leasing Fuhrparkmanagement GmbH and a long-term distribution cooperation with UniCredit Bank Austria
Binder Grösswang, in close cooperation with Clifford Chance Frankfurt, advised Arval and its Austrian subsidiary Arval Austria GmbH on the acquisition of 100% of the shares in UniCredit Leasing Fuhrparkmanagement GmbH, the Austrian fleet management company of the UniCredit Group. The closing of the transaction is in particular subject to approval by the Austrian antitrust authorities.
The acquisition is intended to strengthen the position of BNP Paribas' subsidiary Arval, which specialises in fleet management, on the Austrian market and enable the company to become one of the three largest full-service leasing providers on the market with a fleet of 13,000 vehicles in total.
Part of the agreement is also a long-term cooperation agreement between Arval Austria and UniCredit Bank Austria, enabling Arval to offer fleet management and mobility services to corporate clients of UniCredit Bank Austria.
With this transaction Binder Grösswang has once again demonstrated its comprehensive expertise in M&A transactions.
"The acquisition of UniCredit Leasing Fleet Management was particularly challenging due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact," said Binder Grösswang M&A Partner Thomas Schirmer. "We are pleased that we were able to successfully support Arval in the acquisition of the company and the conclusion of the long-term distribution cooperation with UniCredit Bank Austria, thus taking a further step in Arval's strategy of expanding its partnerships," added Banking Partner Stephan Heckenthaler.
Arval specializes in full-service vehicle leasing and new mobility solutions and has leased 1.3 million vehicles worldwide as of the end of December 2019. Arval is active in 30 countries with more than 7,000 Arval employees. Arval is part of the BNP Paribas Group.
The Binder Grösswang team was led by M&A partner Thomas Schirmer and included, in addition to Stephan Heckenthaler (Partner, Banking/Financial Service Regulatory), Horst Lukanec (Partner, Employment Law) and Johannes Barbist (Partner, Regulatory), Christine Dietz (Partner, Competition Law), Associate Pia-Alena Havel (Corporate/M&A), Counsel Stefan Frank, Associate Andreas Perkonig (both Banking/Financial Service Regulatory) as well as Senior Associate Manuel Müller (Employment Law) and Senior Associate Philipp Spring (Data Protection).
The lead counsel team of Clifford Chance Frankfurt included partner Thomas Krecek, senior associate Moritz Petersen and associate Lara Stelmach (all M&A).