Taylor Wessing advises Walstead on acquisition of LSC Communications' European printing business

Taylor Wessing has advised Walstead, one of the leading European commercial printing groups, on its acquisition of LSC Communications' European printing business based in Poland.

Following completion, Walstead will be a leading producer of advertising flyers and magazines in Europe with pro-forma annual revenues exceeding €730 million. The enlarged group will employ over 4,400 staff operating 70 web offset and four gravure printing presses which process 905,000 tonnes of paper annually. The group will serve 4,800 customers in 38 countries from 19 production facilities in the UK, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland.

The nature of this transaction was international and involved the core team in the UK working closely alongside colleagues in Poland, Germany and Austria.

The deal is subject to customary completion conditions and regulatory approval.

Commenting on the transaction, Ed Waldron, partner in the Private Equity practice group at Taylor Wessing, said: "This is an exciting opportunity for Walstead as it continues to expand further and strengthen its presence in Europe.

For us at Taylor Wessing, this was an interesting transaction to work on. It was another opportunity to work with the Walstead team, and the international nature of the deal also underlines our cross-border abilities. This was a complex yet rewarding transaction to advise on and we are looking forward to Walstead reaping the benefits that result from it."

The Taylor Wessing team was led by Ed Waldron with assistance from senior associate Jonny Bethell and associates Catherine Williams, Emma Casemore and Eliška Haškovcová, all members of the Private Equity practice group.

Further assistance was provided by partner Sian Skelton (Commercial Technology and Data) and associate Will Egan (Tax and Incentives).

Internationally, the team was led by partner Olav Nemling (Corporate/M&A & capital markets) and senior associate Katarzyna Matusiak (Corporate/M&A & capital markets) from the Warsaw office, with input from the Munich office provided by partner Stefan Kroeker (Corporate/M&A & capital markets) and associate Dr. Stephanie Zajicek (Corporate/M&A & capital markets) and the Vienna office provided by senior associate David Konrath (Competition).