Ashurst advises Oxford Instruments plc
The purchase price, which includes an earn-out mechanism, amounts to €42m, of which €5m is conditional on trading performance over a period of 12 months following completion. The closing of the transaction is still subject to the fulfilment of customary closing conditions and German Foreign Direct Investment Restrictions.
Oxford Instruments based in Tubney Woods, Abingdon, United Kingdom, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is a leading global provider of advanced technology products and services to the world's leading industrial companies and scientific research institutions. The focus is on measurement and medical applications. With the acquisition of WITec, Oxford Instruments aims to further expand its market presence in the field of nano-analytical microscope systems (Raman, AFM, SNOM).
Founder-led WITec, based in Ulm, Germany, is a leading international company for nano-analytical microscope systems with a worldwide sales network in more than 60 countries and international cooperation with leading research institutes and universities.
Ashurst worked very closely with the business team of Oxford Instruments, in particular Katy Brizell and Rik Armitage.
The Ashurst team was led by partner Dr Thomas Sacher and counsel Volker Germann (both Corporate M&A, Munich). They were supported by partners James Fletcher (Corporate M&A, London) and Dr Maximilian Uibelei-sen (Regulatory, Frankfurt), counsel Dr Maria Held (Competition, Munich), Juditha von der Heydt (Employment), François Maartens Heynike (IT), Dr Fabian Klein (IP) and Bernd Bäumer (Real Estate, all Frankfurt), senior associate Dr Susanne Knoch (Tax, Frankfurt), associates Leonie Schönhagen (IT/IP), Dr Simon Groneberg (Regulatory) and Anja Bode (Real Estate, all Frankfurt), partner Michael Neary and associate Nathan Huynh (both Corporate M&A, New York), partner Michael Sheng, senior associate Derek Wang, associate Hetty Li (all Corporate M&A, Shanghai), partner Tracy Whiriskey (Corporate M&A, Tokyo), partner Simon Brown and associate Cheryl Ang (both Corporate M&A, Singapore).
