Norton Rose Fulbright advises ASC Investment S.à r.l. on the acquisition of the catalysts business at De Meern site from BASF NEDERLAND B.V.

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised ASC Investment S.à r.l. on the acquisition of the De Meern site in the Netherlands from BASF Nederland B.V. by its portfolio company IQatalyst B.V. The De Meern site develops and manufactures high-quality premium catalysts based on nickel and cobalt for various applications such as food, as well as the oleochemical and petrochemical industries. ASC was able to prevail against several bidders in a competitive bidding process and was selected by BASF as the best new home of the De Meern catalysts business. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. IQatalyst B.V. will continue to operate the site and serve existing and new customers from, among others, the oleochemical and (petro)chemical industries with Fischer-Tropsch catalysts and Fat and Oil CATalysts (FOCAT). The site's employees will transfer to IQatalyst on September 1, 2023. 

ASC Investment S.à r.l. is an investment company based in Luxembourg and Munich that focuses on pan-European corporate spin-offs, carve-outs and corporate successions with development potential. ASC has a portfolio of global companies in various industries such as automotive, automation, building materials, lighting solutions, business process outsourcing and digitalization as well as chemicals.

ASC and IQatalyst B.V. were advised by a Norton Rose Fulbright team led by Munich based partner Sven Schweneke (lead, Private Equity/M&A). In addition, Counsel Marina Arntzen (Private Equity/M&A, Munich) and Associate Marc Abele (Private Equity/M&A, Munich) provided advice. The Munich team was supported by Corporate/M&A Partner Geert-Jan van Rijthoven and Counsel Stefanie Walthaus (Corporate/M&A) from the firm's Amsterdam office.

BASF NEDERLAND was advised by the Amsterdam office of DLA Piper. The team was led by partner Richard Fens. Also advising were associates Rik van den Beukel and Jacklynn Everduim.