Global law firm White & Case LLP is advising Osaka Gas Chemicals Co. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Osaka Gas Co. Ltd, on its agreement with AddSorb Holding AB to acquire Jacobi Carbons AB, the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of coconut shell activated carbon.
Jacobi Carbons AB is headquartered in Kalmar, Sweden and the transaction, which is expected to close during January 2014, has an enterprise value of US$400 million.
Incorporated in Japan in 1897, Osaka Gas is a leading energy supplier with its core natural gas supply business serving seven million customers in Japan’s Kansai region. Incorporated in Sweden in 1916, Jacobi employs approximately 1,200 people worldwide in China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Philippines, Sri Lanka, UK, US and Vietnam. The acquisition will reinforce the existing strengths of both companies in the activated carbon industry and create a global leader across key end-market applications.
The White & Case team which advised on the acquisition was led by Tokyo-based partner Brian Strawn and Stockholm-based partner Ulf Johansson with Tokyo associates Karl Pires, William Moran, Larry Muñoz and Yuta Tamaru and Stockholm associates Costin Mihailescu, John Gustafsson and Christian Reineby playing key roles. It also included lawyers from our Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, New York, Paris, Singapore, Warsaw and Washington DC offices.
