Andersen in Germany invites to the "Chemical day 2021" in Frankfurt
Together with Duff & Phelps Andersen in Germany invited to this year's "Chemical Day" at the Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt City Centre on September 30, 2021 under the motto "Challenges in the Chemical Industry - Making a Carve-Out a Success Story".
Following the opening speech by Andersen partner Dr. Rouven Schwab, Dr. Thomas Schneider, Director Chemicals, Lincoln International, Frankfurt, gave an exciting presentation on carve-outs in the chemical industry using the example of the successful carve-out at Covestro.
With more than 500 carve-outs in the chemical industry every year, the topic is of considerable importance, said Dr. Schneider. Experience also shows that each carve-out is unique. Dr. Schneider added that the complexity of a carve-out makes it imperative to build strong teams of external consultants and internal forces to ensure its speed and success. The success of a carve-out also depends to a large extent on a convincing equity story and committed management.
Ingo Schneemann, CEO, Duff & Phelps, Frankfurt, then moderated a lively panel discussion with Alexander Sinn, VP Operations, Kurita Europe, Mannheim, Matthias Kötter, former CEO, Ambratec, Mainz, Dr. Gunther Kemény, Managing Director, bluekey solutions, Dr. Martin Gruhlke, SVP, SGL Carbon, Wiesbaden and Timo Kläner, LL.M, Partner, Andersen, Berlin, on current carve-out topics, typical problems and innovative solutions.
To start with, the panelists addressed the specific difficulties of a carve-out in the chemical industry.
Recurring typical difficulties are caused by the fact that, especially in the chemical industry, elements such as licenses, production sites and approvals cannot be physically separated in a carveout and must therefore be contractually dissolved.
Good preparation is essential for the quality of a carve-out in order to prevent a large number of potential mistakes. However, this preparation often fails due to too short timelines and diametrically opposed internal interests (such as secrecy). To achieve a high carve-out quality - despite tight timelines - the early involvement of external consultants as process experts and the promotion of cooperation with internal employees as group experts is essential.
From the seller's point of view, a convincing equity story is also of decisive importance. This depends on both the motives for the sale and the potential group of buyers. Selling motives are often capital market-driven, new corporate orientations or spin-offs of non-core divisions. On the buyer side, there are often private equity investors, stand-alones or other groups, all of which have a different buyer profile. Particularly between management and private equity investors, there is regularly an area of tension.
Following the panel discussion, Andersen partner Dr. Rouven Schwab spoke about future legal challenges facing the chemical industry. In particular, the implementation of the Due Diligence Act and ESG compliance pose major challenges for the chemical industry - also against the backdrop of the industry's great responsibility.