Deloitte Legal advises Group DC on integration of HAWITA Group

A Deloitte Legal team around Felix Felleisen and Max Lüerßen has advised Group DC, a family-owned company from the Antwerp (Belgium) region, on its acquisition of HAWITA Group from Vechta, Germany.

The team led by Dusseldorf-based Deloitte Legal attorneys Felix Felleisen and Max Lüerßen has advised Group DC on other transactions in the past years. In the context of the present transaction, they could not only build on and make use of their experience and expertise in dealing with Belgian/German constellations as well as their team’s intercultural and language skills, which include Dutch native speakers, but also the legal and industry expertise of their Latvian Deloitte Legal counterparts.

Group DC, with its plant care division, is a leading company in Europe and trendsetter in organic fertilizers. Its product range also includes organic soil conditioners, plant biostimulants and biological plant protection products. The HAWITA Group is a family-owned company and has been a leading manufacturer of high-quality soils, substrates and planters for many years.

The aim of the creation of the joint group is to combine forces and offer customers in the green industry even better products and services in the future, with a focus on product development and joint sales. Following the acquisition, HAWITA will remain an independent group under the umbrella of Group DC, and the existing management team, including HAWITA’s CEO, Simon Tabeling, will remain on board. He and Tom de Ceuster (CEO Group DC) are delighted with the integration and see it as a great opportunity to be even more powerful and to grow further in the challenging market environment, as the portfolios and geographic areas of the two groups complement each other perfectly.

“Given the group structure that we were looking at in the beginning, with its complexities attributable to the historic developments over almost 100 years, it took us time to get where we are now” says Tom de Ceuster, CEO Group DC. “Felix, Max and their Deloitte Legal teams in Germany and Latvia contributed greatly to making this happen, by combining legal expertise with great business acumen and, more importantly, a profound understanding of how family-owned undertakings work. This allowed them to interact swiftly with both our internal transaction team as well as the Sellers and their advisors, getting us to efficient and pragmatic solutions.”

Advisors Group DC:

Deloitte Legal: Felix Felleisen (Partner, Corporate/M&A, Dusseldorf, Lead); Max Lüerßen (Counsel, Corporate/M&A, Dusseldorf, Co-Lead); Frauke Heudtlass (Partner, Employment Law, Dusseldorf); Felix Skala (Partner, Competition Law, Hamburg); Dr. Fleur Johanna Prop, LL.M. (Counsel, Corporate/M&A, Dusseldorf); Nicole Rurik (Associate, Corporate/M&A, Dusseldorf), Nicole Deneke (Associate, Corporate/M&A, Dusseldorf), Leonie Onkelbach (Associate, Employment Law, Dusseldorf).

Deloitte Legal Latvia: Elīna Putniņa (Director); Kaspars Frīdenbergs-Ansbergs (Manager); Ivita Samlaja (Associate Part-ner); Gerda Anna Kalnāre (Associate, alle Deloitte Tax & Legal Riga, Lettland).