Baker McKenzie Austria has advised Worthington Enterprises (NYSE: WOR), a leading designer and manufacturer of consumer and building products, on the sale of 49% of Worthington’s Sustainability Energy Solutions business segment to Hexagon Composites ASA forming a joint venture with Hexagon Composites ASA. The formation of the joint venture was completed on 29 May 2024.
Hexagon Composites acquired 49% of Worthington’s Sustainability Energy Solutions business segment for approximately USD 10 million to form a joint venture focused on capitalizing on the global clean energy transition specific to the storage, transport and distribution of hydrogen and compressed natural gas. Worthington Enterprises will maintain 49% ownership and the existing executive management team will hold the remaining two percent. Based in Europe, the Sustainability Energy Solutions business segment has more than 500 employees working in its Austria, Germany and Poland facilities.
In parallel to the joint venture transaction, Worthington Enterprises signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Hexagon Ragasco (Norway). The acquisition was completed on 3 June 2024. The two transactions will extend Worthington’s global position in cylinder manufacturing and strengthen its position to capitalize on the storage, transport and distribution of gases supporting the global clean energy transition including propane (LPG), hydrogen and compressed natural gas.
The transaction further involved a complex cross-border pre-signing reorganization. The Baker McKenzie team included lawyers from the firm's Vienna, Warsaw, Luxembourg and US offices.
Team:
Austria: Claudia Fochtmann-Tischler (Counsel, Corporate / M&A, Vienna), Edmund Schuster (Counsel, Corporate / M&A, Vienna), Sophie Schubert (Senior Associate, Corporate / M&A, Vienna), Clara Fercsak (Associate, Corporate / M&A, Vienna), Klara Kastner (Associate, Corporate / M&A, Vienna), Mariella Neidhardt (Associate, Corporate / M&A, Vienna), Jakob Jaritz (Associate, Vienna), Valentin Polla (Associate, Corporate / M&A, Vienna); Philipp Stanek (Counsel, Tax, Vienna); Robert Wippel (Counsel, Banking & Finance, Vienna), Balint Ozsvar (Associate, Banking & Finance, Vienna), Elias Parzer (Associate, Banking & Finance, Vienna); Nina Lenhard (Senior Associate, Antitrust/FDI, Vienna).
US: David J Malliband (Partner, Corporate/ M&A, Chicago), Airi Hammalov (Partner, Corporate/ M&A, New York), Yitian Cai (Associate, Corporate/ M&A, Chicago), Kimberly Franko (Partner, Employment, New York), Chris Guldberg (Partner, Employment Benefits, Chicago), Geoff Martin (Partner, Compliance, Washington DC), Eunkyung Shin (Partner, Compliance, Chicago).
Luxembourg: Jean-Francois Findling (Partner, Corporate/ M&A, Luxembourg), Nastasia Dumitru (Senior Associate, Corporate/ M&A, Luxembourg), Anne-Victoire Husser (Associate, Corporate/ M&A, Luxembourg).
Warsaw: Dominika Dec (Associate, Corporate/ M&A, Warsaw).
Germany: Holger Engelkamp (Partner, Corporate/ M&A, Berlin), Anahita Thoms (Partner, Antitrust/FDI, Berlin), Claire Dietz-Polte (Partner, Antitrust/FDI, Berlin), Ben Boi Beetz (Senior Associate, Corporate/ M&A, Berlin), Kimberley Fischer (Associate, Antitrust/FDI, Berlin).