Clifford Chance advised Koninklijke Nedschroef Holding B.V. ("Nedschroef") on the acquisition of two plants from the insolvent automotive supplier Whitesell Germany GmbH & Co. KG ("Whitesell Germany") by way of an asset deal. The plants are located in Beckingen and Schrozberg. The sale and acquisition is still subject to merger clearance.

In its four plants in Neuss (North Rhine-Westphalia), Neuwied (Rhineland-Palatinate), Beckingen (Saarland) and Schrozberg (Baden-Wuerttemberg), Whitesell Germany is producing high quality cold formed parts and CNC precision machined components for manufacturers and suppliers in the automotive industry. Whitesell Germany had approximately 1,300 employees in Germany when it filed for insolvency in January 2015.

Nedschroef with its registered office in Helmond, The Netherlands, is one of the world's largest suppliers of complex connecting elements for use by the automotive industry and is currently operating 24 plants in 14 countries. The acquisition of the Whitesell plants in Beckingen and Schrozberg is Nedschroef's first acquisition after it was taken over by Shanghai Prime Machinery Company Limited from China in May 2014.

The Clifford Chance team was led by partner Dr. Stefanie Tetz (Corporate, Munich) and comprised partner Dr. Stefan Sax, counsels Dr. Cristina Weidner and Dr. Martin Jawansky, associate Dr. Artur M. Swierczok (all Corporate/Restructuring, Frankfurt), counsel Anne Britta Haas and associate Dr. Andrea Köhler (both Corporate, Munich), partner Christian Trenkel und associate Agnieszka Pikul (both Real Estate, Munich), senior associate Amrei Fuder (Real Estate, Frankfurt), partner Marc Besen and associate Anne Filzmoser (both Corporate/Antitrust, Düsseldorf), partner Dr. Uwe Schimmelschmidt and senior associate Dr. Benjamin Büttner (both Tax, Frankfurt) and associate Karen Xu (Corporate, Shanghai).