DLA Piper advises Otto Group on the sale of Hansecontrol to Qima

DLA Piper has advised Otto Group in relation to the agreement to sell its Quality Assurance and Product Safety service provider, the Hansecontrol Group headquartered in Hamburg, to Qima, a leading global provider of supply-chain compliance solutions, headquartered in Hong Kong.

Hansecontrol will continue to provide the existing assurance services to Otto Group companies. The Qima Group intends to take over all 450 Hansecontrol employees.

Founded in Germany in 1949, today the Otto Group is a globally active retail and services group with around 52,000 employees in 30 major company groups and does business in over 30 countries in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Its business activities are grouped into three segments: Multichannel Retail, Financial Services, and Service. In the 2019/20 financial year, the Otto Group generated revenues of EUR14.3 billion.

Qima is a leading provider of supply chain compliance solutions. The company’s technical experts are present in 85 countries performing quality inspections, supplier audits, certification and lab testing.

The DLA Piper team was led by Corporate partners Sebastian Decker and Dr Benjamin Parameswaran (Hamburg) and also included partners Semin O (Antitrust), Mike Danielewsky (Restructuring, both Frankfurt), Dr Henriette Norda (Employment, Hamburg), counsel Oliver Otto (Restructuring, Frankfurt) and senior associate Friederike Rickers (Corporate, Hamburg).

A DLA Piper team in Hong Kong led by partner Heng Loong Cheong and associate Tommy Lam (both Corporate) also advised on the transaction.