KPMG Law advises K+S and REMEX in multinational merger control proceedings

KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (KPMG Law) provided comprehensive merger control and antitrust advice to the listed company K+S AG (K+S) and REMEX GmbH (REMEX) on the establishment of a joint venture for long-term safe disposal solutions.

K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of K+S Aktiengesellschaft, and REMEX GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of REMONDIS SE & Co. KG, are bundling waste management activities in a joint venture company called REKS GmbH & Co. KG, in which each partner has a 50 percent share.

The closing of the transaction took place on December 22, 2021. K+S and REMEX were comprehensively advised on merger control and antitrust law under the lead of KPMG Law partner Dr. Gerrit Rixen. The merger control proceedings were initially conducted at the European Commission and, following referral, at the German Federal Cartel Office on October 19, 2021. Approval by the Federal Cartel Office was granted on December 01, 2021. The proceedings required innovative strategic advice, the solution of partly novel legal issues in merger control law as well as the structuring and legal-economic analysis of a comprehensive set of facts. The release was issued following the design and implementation of compensatory measures, which included both structural and behavioral elements.

In addition, KPMG Law also coordinated the merger control proceedings in the People’s Republic of China for both joint venture partners, which were conducted by a partner law firm from the KPMG Global Legal Network. There, it was possible for the companies involved to obtain very rapid approval of the transaction.

In addition to the expertise and experience of KPMG Law’s antitrust/merger control team, the excellent cooperation with the legal departments and project teams at K+S and REMEX as well as the broad expertise of KPMG Law were decisive for the success: K+S was also comprehensively advised by KPMG Law on corporate/M&A in this transaction (partner Dr. Dr. Boris Schilmar and team) as well as in a number of other relevant areas of law, in particular employment, waste,
environmental, mining and public procurement law.

Advisor to K+S and REMEX on merger control / antitrust:

KPMG Law:

Dr. Gerrit Rixen

(Lead Partner, Head of Antitrust & Merger Control, Cologne);

Dr. Hannes Schwinn

(Senior Manager, Stuttgart);

Christoph Gröne

(Senior Associate, Düsseldorf); Jacqueline Unkelbach, LL.M. (Manager, Cologne); Lena Frenzer (Senior Associate, Stuttgart); Procurement Law:

Henrik-Christian Baumann

(Partner);

Julia Inga Gielen

(Senior Manager) both Berlin

K+S advisors on other areas of the transaction:

KPMG Law:

Dr. Dr. Boris Schilmar

(Partner, Corporate/M&A, Head of International Business, Düsseldorf),

Dr. Martin Trayer

(Partner, Labor Law, Frankfurt am Main),
Dr. Ulrich Keunecke
(Partner, Capital Markets, Frankfurt), Sebastian Stöhr, LL.M. (Senior Manager, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf),

Jan Erik Schapmann

(Senior Manager, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf),

Annette Lionnet

(Senior Manager, Commercial Law, Nuremberg),

Isabella Ries

(Senior Manager, Finance and Capital Markets Law, Frankfurt),
Falk Hoffmann
(Manager, Mining Law, Leipzig), Dr. Anna Melikov (Manager, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf),

Nicole Bohn

(Senior Associate, Commercial Law, Nuremberg), Franz-Jakob Schipp (Associate, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Arijan Shaboviq (Associate, Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf)