Corporate

Pryor Cashman client Bühler AG, a Swiss process engineering Group, has acquired 100% of the Leybold Optics GmbH from the private equity fund EQT III. The acquisition was announced in April 2012 and fully approved by the antitrust authorities in May 2012.

Bühler is a global leader in the field of process engineering, especially production technologies and services for producing foods and advanced materials. The Group operates in over 140 countries and has a global payroll of about 8800. In the fiscal year 2011, the Group generated sales revenues (turnover) of CHF 2131 million.

For Bühler, the acquisition marks a significant step toward the expansion of its Advanced Materials division in the area of equipment for manufacturing of functional layers.

Leybold Optics, a company with a rich tradition, is one of the world’s leading providers of production systems for vacuum deposition of functional layers for a wide range of applications. The company has around 600 employees at its headquarters in Alzenau (Germany) as well as development and production locations in Germany, the United States, and China. In 2011, the company generated sales of over EUR 200 million.

The seller EQT is a group of private equity funds that invests in North and East Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Representing Bühler in the transaction were PwC Legal (Frankfurt) as principal legal advisor and Juergen R. Ostertag, Pryor Cashman Corporate Partner and head of the firm’s German Practice, as special U.S. counsel.