Nurem­berg — The owners of the Hans Müller Group of Compa­nies have sold the majo­rity of their shares in Hans Müller HMP Medi­zin­tech­nik GmbH and Hans Müller Medi­zi­ni­sche + Tech­ni­sche Gase GmbH to Messer Group. The tran­sac­tion took place within the frame­work of a bidding process. The closing of the acqui­si­tion is still subject to anti­trust clearance.

The previous owner Hans Müller was compre­hen­si­vely legally advi­sed in the course of the company sale by a specia­li­zed inter­di­sci­pli­nary team of Rödl & Part­ner Germany led by part­ner Michael Wiehl. The main focus of the advice was on the imple­men­ta­tion of a complex M&A process in the context of a bidding procedure.

Hans Müller sees great advan­ta­ges for both sides in the tran­sac­tion: “With this merger, we have been able to set the stra­te­gic course for a successful future. I am convin­ced that Messer is the ideal part­ner for the contin­ued exis­tence and further deve­lo­p­ment of Hans Müller Medi­zin­tech­nik, parti­cu­larly because of its charac­ter as a family-run company.” The Hans Müller Group employs around 165 people and will conti­nue to operate as part of Messer Medi­cal Home Care Holding GmbH under its own name and the leader­ship of Mana­ging Direc­tor Hans Müller.

With this merger of two family-owned compa­nies, Messer is expan­ding its home care busi­ness and now also serves the German market. “Hans Müller’s acti­vi­ties comple­ment our busi­ness through their regio­nal arran­ge­ment,” explai­ned Adolf Walth, Execu­tive Vice Presi­dent Sales & Marke­ting Europe of Messer Group GmbH. Messer previously had home care acti­vi­ties in Austria, Belgium, France, Slova­kia, Hungary and Roma­nia. “It is important to us to conti­nue the pati­ent-orien­ted entre­pre­neu­rial approach of Hans Müller Medi­zin­tech­nik,” added Nik De Corte, CEO of Messer Medi­cal Home Care Holding GmbH.

About Hans Müller HMP Medi­cal Technology
The group of compa­nies foun­ded in 2007 includes Hans Müller HMP Medi­zin­tech­nik GmbH, Hans Müller Medi­zi­ni­sche + Tech­ni­sche Gase GmbH and Hans Müller Medi­zin­tech­ni­sche Inno­va­tio­nen GmbH. The Group opera­tes at seven loca­ti­ons: Munich, Nurem­berg, Fürth, Nabburg, Eggen­fel­den, Reut­lin­gen and Kaisers­lau­tern. The port­fo­lio includes respi­ra­tory and oxygen equip­ment, inha­la­tion and suction equip­ment, as well as therapy and diagno­stic equip­ment for medi­cal moni­to­ring of sleep apnea pati­ents and prema­ture and newborn infants.

About Messer Group
Messer Group GmbH is the world’s largest family-run specia­list for indus­trial, medi­cal and specialty gases. In the Home Care segment, Messer Medizintechnik’s range includes medi­cal products and medi­cal oxygen. Its clientele includes physi­ci­ans in private prac­tice, hospi­tals, labo­ra­to­ries, nursing homes and homes for the elderly, as well as end users.

Advi­sor Hans Müller Medi­zin­tech­nik: Rödl & Part­ner Germany
Michael Wiehl, Part­ner (Corpo­rate / M&A), Nurem­berg, Lead — M&A, Legal, Dr. Alex­an­dra Gier­ing, Part­ner (Corpo­rate / M&A), Nurem­berg — Legal, Jens Linhardt, Senior Asso­ciate (Corpo­rate / M&A), Nurem­berg — Legal, Mahmood Kawany, Senior Asso­ciate (Corpo­rate / M&A), Nurem­berg — Legal, Johan­nes Gruber, Asso­ciate Part­ner (Real Estate), Nurem­berg — Legal, Annette Jakob, Senior Asso­ciate (Real Estate), Nurem­berg — Legal, Michael Beder, Asso­ciate Part­ner (Anti­trust), Munich — Legal, Dr. Michael Braun, Part­ner (Labor Law), Hof — Legal, Dr. Mela­nie Köst­ler, Asso­ciate Part­ner (Tax Law), Nurem­berg — Tax

Mr. Ralph Münch, part­ner of the tax consul­ting firm Münch & Münch (Neumarkt in der Ober­pfalz), was the lead tax advi­sor for the transaction.