Baker McKenzie advised HOCHDORF Swiss Nutrition AG ("HOCHDORF") on the sale of its production site in Hochdorf, in the canton of Lucerne, to the municipality of Hochdorf ("Municipality").
HOCHDORF and its pension fund have entered into agreements with the Municipality to sell it land and buildings with an aggregate land area exceeding 85'000 m2 on numerous plots (including several ground leases and sub-ground leases) for a total consideration of approx. CHF 60 million. At the same time, HOCHDORF will lease back some of the transferred plots. The transaction will be closed as per 30 December 2021 and will have a positive impact on HOCHDORF Group's annual results. The sale is a result of Group's strategic decision to consolidate both currently operated production sites in the more modern facility in Sulgen, in the canton of Thurgau.
The publicly listed HOCHDORF Group (SIX: HOCN) is one of the leading foodstuff companies in Switzerland, employing around 400 employees. The company is known for advanced processing expertise for high-quality raw materials, state-of-the-art production technology and the market-focused nutrition know-how of its employees. HOCHDORF is therefore unique on the global market as a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialist foods for people of all ages with specific nutritional requirements. Its portfolio offers solutions ranging from high-quality semi-finished products for the processing food industry to consumer products in the sensitive infant formula segment. Its products are sold worldwide in over 90 countries.
The successful sale of the site is a key step toward making the HOCHDORF Group fit for the future and placing it on a solid economic foundation in order to allow it to pursue its aim to further develop into the technologically leading Swiss provider of "smart nutrition" solutions.
Baker McKenzie Switzerland advised HOCHDORF on all legal aspects of this sale. Among other particularities, the transaction was subject to a permit by the environmental authorities and to various preemption rights by third parties.
The Baker McKenzie team was led by Samuel Marbacher (partner, Zurich) and Charles Gschwind (partner, Geneva/Zurich) and it included Mario Kumschick (tax counsel, Zurich), Susanne Liebel-Kotz (tax associate, Zurich), Michael Zeller (associate, Zurich), Rene Kühn, Pascal Dorier and Mehdi Ben Salah (all trainee lawyers, Geneva/Zurich).