Baker McKenzie advises UBE Corporation on its acquisition of LANXESS’ Urethane Systems business
Baker McKenzie has advised UBE Corporation, a leading Japanese chemical company based in Tokyo, on its acquisition of LANXESS’ Urethane Systems business (LANXESS Deutschland GmbH, head office: Germany, “LANXESS”) for a purchase price of approximately EUR 460 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025, subject to the approval of the relevant authorities.
UBE Corporation, founded in 1897, is a manufacturer of chemicals and other products. Its chemical business ranges from basic chemicals to advanced, high-performance products. The UBE Group comprises around 70 companies with approximately 8,000 employees worldwide and sales of JPY 468.2 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2024. The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 6.7 billion in 2023. The company currently has about 12,600 employees in 32 countries. LANXESS’ core business is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives and consumer protection products.
The Urethane Systems business consists of five manufacturing sites globally as well as technical centers in the US, Europe and China with a total of around 400 employees and estimated net sales of EUR 265 million in the fiscal year ending December 2024. UBE Corporation will take over all operations from LANXESS.
“Thanks to the close network between our office in Tokyo and other Baker McKenzie offices worldwide, we were able to seamlessly support our client in its acquisition of the Urethane Systems business from a single source,” commented Baker McKenzie Frankfurt office partner Dr. Johannes M. Baumann, one of the three lead partners for the transaction. “This acquisition will enable our client to further develop the specialty chemical business under its umbrella and help it achieve new growth.”
Tetsuo Tsujimoto, a Partner in the Corporate/M&A Group who led the deal from the Tokyo office, added, “We are honored to be involved in this project as part of a Japanese company’s global strategy to build a world-class business. We will continue to do our utmost to help our clients grow their businesses.”
Dr. Baumann, fellow Frankfurt office partner Christian U. Atzler and Tsujimoto led the transaction. They were supported by Tokyo office partners Masahiro Inaba, Byron Frost and associate Takahiro Toda, and global teams from three German offices, Amsterdam, Chicago, London, Milan, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Shanghai and Sydney.