DLA Piper advises GM Cruise on acquisition of Astyx

DLA Piper has advised GM Cruise Holdings LLC (GM Cruise) in connection with the acquisition of Astyx GmbH (Astyx) from Zukunft Ventures GmbH, a subsidiary of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, and the founders of Astyx. The acquisition of Astyx, which is specialized on the development and manufacturing of radar and satellite communication systems is the first transaction for GM Cruise in Europe.

In addition to the acquisition of Astyx, the advice of DLA Piper also included legal support in connection with a complex real estate carve-out transaction and an additional business carve-out.

GM Cruise is a global leading technology company focusing on the development of autonomous vehicles. It is based in San Francisco, California. Since 2016, GM Cruise is majority-owned by General Motors and plays a key role for the multinational corporation in the development autonomous driving technologies.

The main transaction was jointly led by partner Dr Nils Krause and senior associate Dominik Wegener (both Corporate/M&A, Hamburg). The carve-out transactions were led by Partner Gerald Schumann (Corporate/M&A, Munich). The transaction team also included partners Jan Pohle (Cologne), Dr Burkhard Führmeyer (Frankfurt, both IPT), Dr Kai Bodenstedt (Employment, Hamburg), Dr Marco Arteaga (Pensions, Frankfurt), Guido Kleve (Regulatory, Cologne), Dr Florian Biesalski (Real Estate), Semin O (Antitrust, both Frankfurt), Dr Dietmar Schulz (Restructuring, Munich), Dr Christian Schoop (Compliance), counsels Sebastian Kost (Tax, Munich), Dr Christoph Dachner (Corporate/M&A, Munich), Dr Thilo Streit (Regulatory), Jan Spittka (IPT, both Cologne) and Dr Annemarie Bloß (IPT, Hamburg), senior associates Miray Kavruk (Frankfurt), France Vehar (Cologne, both IPT), Dr Jasper von Georg (Corporate, Hamburg), Sonja Beier (Real Estate, Frankfurt), Florian Jeske (Employment, Hamburg), Georg Haberkorn (Pensions, Munich), associates Christine Uwase and Rune Jelte Weltz (both Hamburg), Jessica Hermann (Munich, all Corporate/M&A), Hauke Tammert (Regulatory, Cologne), Alexander Lamers (Real Estate, Frankfurt), Raffaella Rusin (Tax, Munich), Dr Marius Haak (Compliance, Frankfurt) and Thomas Rüsing (Restructuring, Munich) as well as transaction lawyer Dan Li (Corporate/M&A, Hamburg).

The US part of the transaction was led by partner Eric Wang (Corporate/M&A, Silicon Valley).