Close Brothers GmbH advised the insolvency administrators Nada Nasser (Kreplin & Partner) and Sascha Seehaus (Dr. Köhler & Seehaus) on the sale of KCH-Group’s operative business in Germany

Frankfurt/Main, 11 December 2009

Close Brothers GmbH advised the insolvency administrators Nada Nasser from Kreplin & Partner and Sascha Seehaus from Dr. Köhler & Seehaus on the sale of the operative business of KCH-Group in Germany to Steuler-Industriewerke GmbH. After the district court of Montabaur ordered a preliminary insolvency administration on the 7th October 2009, it was possible to sell the German operative business of KCH-Group out of insolvency within two months. Through this transaction and the rescue plan of the buyer around 180 jobs at the Siershahn location were saved. Production was maintained throughout the duration of the insolvency proceedings and also during the transfer of assets. The purchase price has not been disclosed.

Background information on KCH-Group

KCH-Group is an internationally operating company which has specialized in industrial surface protection for 140 years. KCH’s offerings range from the supply of materials and component parts (rubber coating, lining, cladding, synthetic resin products and composite materials) to the preparation of component parts for various applications. In the business year 2008, KCH-Group achieved sales of around € 80 million.
www.kch-group.com

Background information on Steuler-Industriewerke GmbH

Steuler-Industriewerke is a group of companies with around 1,750 employees achieving sales of around € 230 million. The structure of the company is composed of the group’s corrosion protection, plant construction / environmental technology and tiling divisions, which all operate independently in the market. Steuler industrial corrosion protection develops, produces and installs chemically, mechanically and thermally resistant materials and lining systems for steel and concrete construction.
www.steuler.de

Background information on Kreplin & Partner and Dr. Köhler & Seehaus

The partnership Kreplin & Partner is a nationwide law firm with a specialty in insolvency and restructuring law. Currently the partnership has four insolvency administrators and offices in Koblenz, Düsseldorf, Essen, Wuppertal, Mönchengladbach and Hamburg among others. Through its founder the lawyer Georg F. Kreplin, the company has an excellent reputation providing legal advice to companies undergoing a restructuring and to companies under insolvency proceedings. www.kreplin-partner.de

Lawyer Sascha R. Seehaus, Diez, is a partner in the insolvency and forced administration office Dr. Köhler & Seehaus and has been active as an insolvency administrator for the past four years. The insolvency and forced administration office Dr. Köhler & Seehaus and the legal office Dr. Köhler, Seehaus & Kollegen are nationally recognised law firms specialising in insolvency and forced administration. Since its foundation more than 30 years ago, it has handled more than 1,000 insolvency, forced administration and restructuring processes. www.koehler-diez.de

Background information on Close Brothers GmbH

Close Brothers GmbH with offices in Frankfurt, Zurich and Warsaw is part of Close Brothers Corporate Finance, a leading, independent corporate finance house. Headquartered in London, it has a strong regional and European presence, employing more than 250 professionals across offices in the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Poland. Close Brothers Corporate Finance offers advice in mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, debt and equity raising, as well as dedicated advice to the Private Equity industry. As a subsidiary of Daiwa Securities SMBC Europe Limited, Close Brothers Corporate Finance also has access to a global network of relationships in the Japanese investment bank's existing markets. This includes Japan, Asia (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and other countries), Russia, Bahrain, Dubai and other Gulf territories as well as into the US through Sagent Advisors, an alliance partner of Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd. From 1 January 2010 Daiwa Securities SMBC will be a 100% subsidiary of Daiwa Securities Group. The new company name will then be Daiwa Capital Markets.
www.closebrothers.de, www.closebrothers.ch, and www.closebrothers.pl