Taylor Wessing advises Fujitsu Siemens Computers on significant cross-border TMT acquisition

A Taylor Wessing team drawn from our German and UK offices has advised the leading European IT provider, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, on its acquisition of international Product Related Services, the world's sixth-largest IT service company, from Siemens Business Services.   This deal was signed on 21 December 2005 and is due to complete on 1 April 2006.

Fujitsu Siemens became a new client of Taylor Wessing's last autumn, following an introduction through our Düsseldorf office.  This acquisition, our first major piece of work for the company, involves approximately 5,000 employees in 28 countries, the majority of whom are based in Siemens' subsidiaries in Germany and the UK.  This transaction, therefore, provided an ideal opportunity for Taylor Wessing to show the strength of our cross-border transaction capability. 

Corporate partner, Peter Hellich, led the German team which comprised Albrecht von Beauvais, Matthias Kast, Christian Frank, Manfred Hack, Marc Gimmy, Markus Wirtz, Marco Hartmann-Rueppel and Rajko Herrmann.  The UK team was led by corporate partner, Paul Webb, and included Peter Jackson, Neil Smith, Alice Hill, Paul Callaghan and Charlie Pring. 

Paul Webb comments:

"We were delighted to represent Fujitsu Siemens Computers on this major transaction, which represents a significant addition to Fujitsu Siemens' service offering. With our European coverage and TMT practice, this is the type of cross-border deal in which we are increasingly involved."

The Taylor Wessing team also co-ordinated the legal input from lawyers in 18 different jurisdictions.  Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted for Siemens Business Services.