Ashurst advises K+S on the acquisition of Qemetica’s salt business
Ashurst has advised K+S Group on the acquisition of Qemetica’s salt business. The transaction comprises two vacuum salt production sites in Staßfurt, Germany, and Janikowo, Poland, as well as related administrative units.
K+S is acquiring the business from Polish chemicals company Qemetica through its subsidiary esco international GmbH. The agreed purchase price is €350 million, plus a performance-based earn-out of up to €30 million. In the 2025 financial year, Qemetica’s salt business generated revenue of approximately €125 million and EBITDA of almost €50 million; around 400 employees are covered by the transaction.
The acquisition of Qemetica’s two vacuum salt production sites offers K+S the opportunity to further expand its salt business in Europe. At the same time, it provides K+S with an attractive additional growth perspective in Central and Eastern Europe. The acquired sites focus on the production of specialty salt products, including for water softening and the food industry.
Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including merger control approval, and is expected in the first quarter of 2027.
The Ashurst team was led by Dr Stephan Hennrich (Partner, Corporate Transactions) and included, among others, Benedikt Lerp (Senior Associate, Corporate Transactions), Tamara Marx (Associate, Corporate Transactions), Volker Germann (Senior Counsel, Corporate Transactions), Caspar Graf von Westerholt (Junior Associate, Corporate Transactions), Martina Rothe (Senior Counsel, Corporate), Dr Gerrit Clasen (Senior Counsel, Corporate Transactions), Miriam Staatz (Counsel, Tax), Dr Judith Sawang (Partner, Dispute Resolution), Dr Maximilian Weinand (Associate, Dispute Resolution), Vincent Kurz (Junior Associate, Dispute Resolution), Achim Weimer (Associate, Real Estate), Sascha Arnold (Partner, Regulatory/Projects), Dr Neele Schauer (Associate, Regulatory/Projects), Roman Brtka (Partner, Dispute Resolution/IP), Phillip Hinz (Associate, Dispute Resolution/IP), Dr Alexander Duisberg (Partner, Corporate/Digital Economy), David Plischka (Associate, Corporate Transactions), Dr Volker Rosengarten (Partner, Dispute Resolution), and Akram Khuder (Senior Associate, Dispute Resolution).
Ashurst would like to thank the entire K+S team, in particular Mathias Hübner, Markus Linke, Jan Grommas, Alexander Palinkasch and Lukas Wenner, for their trust and excellent collaboration. Special thanks also go to the teams at SZA (Competition, Frankfurt/Munich) and Schönherr in Poland, who advised alongside Ashurst on the transaction.
