DLA Piper advises Nemetschek on acquisition of MCS Solutions

DLA Piper has advised the software supplier Nemetschek SE on the acquisition of the real estate and facilities technology firm MCS Solutions in Belgium, Sweden, India and the USA. The acquisition sees Nemetschek SE gain access to the rapidly growing market in building management. The company will acquire one hundred per cent of the shares in MCS Solutions, leading to an average market growth forecast of more than ten per cent over the coming five years. The two parties have agreed the purchase price will remain undisclosed.

The Nemetschek Group is at the forefront of the digitization of the construction industry. Founded in 1963 by Prof. Georg Nemetschek, the owner-managed company employs more than 2,000 people, with 15 brands currently operating under the holding company of the Nemetschek Group. Headquartered in Munich, it has been listed on the German stock exchange since 1999, and is also listed on the TecDAX. Last year the company generated a turnover of EUR 395.6 million and an EBITDA of EUR 108.0 million.

MCS solutions is a technology and consultancy firm that assists its clients around the world in improving the performance of their building portfolios. The company supplies modular and integrated software solutions for real estate, facility and workplace management to large private and public organizations. MCS Solutions developed the smart building platform, COBUNDU,™ which uses Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and big data analysis to optimize productivity and efficiency for building managers.

The international DLA Piper team was jointly led by Corporate partners Dr Nils Krause in Hamburg and Koen Selleslags in Antwerp. The Hamburg-based Corporate team comprised counsel Dr Jan-Philipp Meier, associate, Ronja Hecker, and transaction lawyer, Dan Li, alongside Antwerp-based Corporate lawyer, Fauve Vander Schelde. The team in Brussels included Intellectual Property & Technology senior lead lawyer, Nicolas Becker, lead lawyers Frederic Brasseur and Pierre Dion, Employment, Mathieu Higny, Real Estate, Wouter Verhelst, Corporate, Thomas Sterckx, Litigation & Regulatory, and lawyers Julien Sad, Finance, Projects and Restructuring, and Jascha Kolesnyk, Employment. They were supported by lawyers Kristof Janssens, Real Estate, Birgit Creemers, Litigation & Regulatory, and Frederik Ringoot, Senne Mennes and Gert-Jan Fraeyman, Intellectual Property & Technology.

Further international team members involved in the deal included Corporate partners Emma Norburg in Stockholm, and Jonathan Klein, New York, alongside Philadelphia-based William L. Bartow, Patent Prosecution, Baltimore-based Gina M. Zawitoski, GA Environmental, Washington-based Jennifer M. Kashatus, Tech, Data & Commercial, and Rita M. Patel, Employment.

In India, the team from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Advocates & Solicitors received support in particular from partner Smruti Shah and the associates Neham Tayal and Guari Devpura.

Advisory services were provided in collaboration with the firm of Hoffmann & de Vries Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten mbB.