Ashurst advises Knorr-Bremse on the sale of its PowerTech unit

Ashurst advised Knorr-Bremse Aktiengesellschaft (Knorr-Bremse) on the sale of its PowerTech business unit to Radial Capital Partners. By selling the PowerTech unit Knorr-Bremse is adjusting the group portfolio for a non-core business segment.

Knorr-Bremse is the world's leading manufacturer of braking systems and a leading supplier of sub-systems for rail and commercial vehicles. The PowerTech unit (electrical power supply systems for rail vehicles and industrial applications) comprises three companies in Germany, Knorr-Bremse Powertech GmbH, Knorr-Bremse Powertech GmbH & Co. KG and Knorr-Bremse Powertech Verwaltungs GmbH, and the US Knorr-Bremse Powertech Corp. as well as further business activities in Australia, Spain and China.

Ashurst worked very closely with the in-house legal team of Knorr-Bremse, in particular Janine Lanfermann (legal project lead) and Christian Vornehm (Head Corporate Legal M&A/Antitrust) both in the team of Dr Ilkin Karakaya (General Counsel Knorr-Bremse Group).

The Ashurst team was led by partner Dr Thomas Sacher (Munich), who was assisted by partners Reinhard Eyring and Dr Gerrit Clasen (both Frankfurt), counsel Volker Germann (Munich), counsel Martina Rothe, associates Quynh Anh Le (both Frankfurt) and Armin Müller (all Corporate, Munich). From the restructuring practice partner Alexander Ballmann, counsel Dr Dorothea Tachezy and associate Anna Geissler (all Munich) provided advice. Counsel Christiane Bestgen as well as associates Philipp Hogrefe and Dr Ralf Stenger (all Munich) advised on finance law. Advice was also provided by counsel Philipp Beckers (Dispute Resolution), Dr Maria Held (Competition, both Munich), Juditha von der Heydt (Employment), François Maartens Heynike (IP/IT) and senior associate Adnan Manzoor (Real Estate, all Frankfurt). Tax law aspects were handled by partner Dr Martin Bünning and associate Carina Park (both Frankfurt).