Milbank LLP advised EQT Mid Market Europe and EQT Mid Market Asia III funds (together “EQT Private Equity” or “EQT”) on the sale of BBS Automation (“BBS”) to MDAX-listed Dürr Group.
Headquartered in Munich, Germany, BBS helps companies automate their production processes and reduce energy consumption, waste and downtime, allowing customers to meet rapidly growing cost and sustainability demands. It plays a pivotal role in the Industry 4.0 revolution by developing and manufacturing automated, smart factory solutions. BBS’ tailor-made assembly and testing applications are used by customers in a wide range of industries, including (e)Mobility, Life Sciences, and Consumer Electronics, amongst others.
EQT Private Equity acquired a majority stake in BBS in 2018. During EQT’s ownership, BBS has more than doubled its sales to over EUR 300 million today (2023 estimate). At the same time, BBS has made substantial investments in its global footprint, doubling its network of sites from 7 to 14 and growing its number of employees from around 550 to around 1,200.
Closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory conditions and expected for the second half of 2023.
The Milbank team advising EQT Partners was led by partner Steffen Oppenlaender (Global Corporate/M&A, Munich) and included partners Thomas Kleinheisterkamp (Tax, Munich), Barbara Mayer-Trautmann (Finance, Munich), Alexander Rinne (Regulatory, Munich) and John Beahn (Regulatory, New York) as well as special counsel Dana Zelman (Regulatory, New York) and associates Sandra Feil, Lea-Marie Weischede, Pascal Haerdtner, Julian Jaschinski, Markus von Lutterotti (all Global Corporate/M&A, Munich), Susanne Baier (Finance, Munich) and Jan Maas (Regulatory, Munich).
