Osborne Clarke has advised RS Group plc on the acquisition of Distrelec B.V. from Aurelius.
RS Group, a global omni-channel provider of industrial product and service solutions, has acquired Distrelec B.V., a high-service, digital-led distributor of industrial and maintain, repair and operations (MRO) products, from AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA. The international legal practice Osborne Clarke successfully advised RS Group with an international team on the acquisition.
RS Group plc provides product and service solutions that help customers design, build, maintain, repair and operate industrial equipment and operations, safely and sustainably. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange with stock ticker RS1 and in the year ended 31 March 2023 reported revenue of GBP 2,982m.
Distrelec was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Manchester, UK. The company is a high-service distributor of industrial and MRO products in Europe and employs around 400 people. In addition to the main markets of Switzerland, Germany and Sweden, Distrelec has a strong presence in 19 European countries with active sales teams.
AURELIUS is a pan-European alternative investment company. Thanks to its extensive operational expertise and experience, AURELIUS is able to accelerate value creation in its portfolio companies. The group has offices in London, Luxembourg, Munich, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Madrid, Milan and Düsseldorf. RS Group's announcement of the transaction is here.
Osborne Clarke fielded a large international team including:
- Germany: Philip Meichssner, Dr Nanni Spitzer, Lorenz Chwaszcza, Johanna Baumann (Corporate/M&A), Dr Thomas Funke, Ghazale Mandegarian-Fricke, Catharina Schulte-Wintrop (Competition), Florian Merkle (Tax), Andre Braig (Employment), Kerstin Grimhardt, Julia Kaufmann (IT Law), Thomas Schnabel (Real Estate), Dr Thomas Grünvogel (Commercial), Dr Tim Reinhard and Konstantin Sitte (IP).
- UK: Mark Wesker, Louise Grzasko, Elinor Owen, Liam O'Connor (Corporate/M&A), Katherine Kirrage (Competition).
- Netherlands: Geoffrey Beurskens, Herke van Hulst, Wouter Kok and Angela Saldanha (Corporate/M&A), Jim Margry (Employment), Berend Zwart, Charlie van der Star (Real Estate), Coen Barneveld Binkhuysen, Sophie den Held (Commercial), Roderick Nieuwmeyer (Competition), Dewi Harkink (Data privacy).
- Italy: Enrico Fabrizi, Federica Milioto (Competition), Chiara Carioti (Corporate/M&A).
- Sweden: Henrik Bergstrom, Rebecca Brindeby (Commercial).
- Poland: Tomasz Olkiewicz, Aleksandra Sztajer (Corporate/M&A).
In addition, Osborne Clarke worked with relationship firms in Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
The RS Group in-house team was led by General Counsel Andy James.
AURELIUS was advised on the transaction by Linklaters and Haver & Mailänder (Legal).
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