Baker & McKenzie Advises Ecolab in USD8 Billion Merger with Nalco
Deal Announcement
20 July 2011
Global, 20 July 2011 - Baker & McKenzie has acted as lead transaction counsel to Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) in connection with its merger with Nalco Holding Company (NYSE: NLC) announced today. Under the terms of the USD8 billion transaction, a subsidiary of Ecolab will merge with Nalco, which is based in Naperville, Illinois, with operations in more than 150 countries. The merger is structured to provide a cash/stock election to the stockholders of Nalco.
Baker & McKenzie’s global team was led by Chicago corporate partner Dieter Schmitz and included Chicago corporate head Craig Roeder and corporate partner Edward Harrison. The team was supported by Thomas Doyle, Samuel Kramer, Maura Ann McBreen, Creighton Meland, Carole Spink and John Watson in Chicago, Thomas May and Paul McNulty in Washington, D.C. and Guenther Heckelmann in Frankfurt, Germany.
“We are grateful to advise Ecolab, and congratulate the company on entering into the largest transaction in its long and successful history,” said Schmitz.
Schmitz, who first started representing Ecolab about 25 years ago, led a team of Baker & McKenzie partners and associates from more than a dozen jurisdictions on the deal. “It has also been a special honor to work closely with one of the leading companies in Minnesota, where I grew up and continue to have strong ties, “ added Schmitz.
Ecolab’s corporate legal team was led by its general counsel, James Seifert, and associate general counsel and corporate compliance officer, Michael McCormick. Seifert, who has successfully led many significant transactions during his legal career, said, “The Baker team provided seamless deal support across both the core M&A issues as well as the cross-border aspects of this important transaction. We were most pleased to have Baker as lead counsel to complement Ecolab’s talented in-house legal resources for this multi-billion dollar transaction.”
With sales of USD6 billion and more than 26,000 associates, Ecolab Inc., based in St. Paul, Minnesota, is the global leader in cleaning, sanitizing, food safety and infection prevention products and services. Ecolab delivers comprehensive programs and services to the foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare and hospitality markets in more than 160 countries.
Nalco is the world’s leading water treatment and process improvement company, offering water management sustainability services focused on industrial, energy and institutional market segments. More than 12,000 Nalco employees operate in 150 countries supported by a comprehensive network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and research centers to serve a broad range of end markets. In 2010, Nalco’s sales were USD4 billion.