Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (“MHI”) on the proposed worldwide merger with Hitachi, Ltd. (“Hitachi”) of their respective thermal power operations. The firm has been working together with Japanese law firm Nishimura & Asahi, German law firm Noerr LLP, South African law firm Werksmans Attorneys, Polish law firm WKB Wiercinski, Kwiecinski, Baehr, and Greek law firm Zepos & Yannopoulos on this deal. The Definitive Agreements were signed on 11 June 2013.
Under the Definitive Agreements, MHI and Hitachi will transfer their thermal power operations into an integrated company by way of a company split. Initially, MHI will hold 683 shares and Hitachi 317 shares in the integrated company. Hitachi will then pay JPY 29.7 billion yen for an additional 33 shares, bringing the equity contribution ratio of MHI and Hitachi to 65% and 35% respectively.
The above firms will continue to advise MHI with the aim of achieving completion on 1 January 2014.
The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by Tokyo-based partners Rebecca Major and James Robinson with assistance from senior associate Lukas Kratochvil and associate Douglas Heller.
