Dieter Schmitz

Dieter’s practice principally involves advising US and foreign clients on acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and other international transactions. The transactions involve companies in a wide range of product and service sectors. Because of Dieter’s international background and German fluency, nearly all of these transactions are cross-border in nature — principally between the United States and Europe.

Dieter's selected transactional experience is as follows, the first 12 of which represented the respective client’s "largest M&A transaction ever":

• Ecolab Inc. – Acquisition by this NYSE company of Nalco Holding Company (NYSE) with operations in 150 countries (USD 8.3 billion).

• Bemis Company, Inc. – Acquisition by this NYSE company of the Food Americas operations of Alcan Packaging, a business unit of Rio Tinto plc (USD 1.2 billion) and the follow-on divestiture ordered by the US Department of Justice.

• SwissairGroup AG – Acquisition by Gate Gourmet AG of Dobbs International Services, Inc. and Dobbs International (UK) Limited from Viad Corp. (USD 790 million).

• Gardner Denver, Inc. – Acquisition by this NYSE company of Thomas Industries Inc. (NYSE) with operations in over 20 countries (USD 734 million).

• Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. – Acquisition by this NYSE company of 17 over-the-counter healthcare brands from GlaxoSmithKline plc (USD 660 million).

• AgraQuest, Inc. – Sale of this US biotech company to Bayer CropScience, a member of the Bayer AG group (USD 500 million), selected by 2013 M&A Advisor for Healthcare and Life Sciences "Deal of the Year" Award.

• Tennant Company - Acquisition by this NYSE Company of IPC Group (USD 350 million).

• Zen-Noh Grain Corporation - Acquisition by this Japanese owned company from Bunge Limited (NYSE) of 35 US grain elevators (USD 300 million) and the follow-on divestiture ordered by the US Department of Justice.

• Owensboro Grain Company - Sale of this 5th generation private company to Cargill, Incorporated.

• American Hotel Register Company - Acquisition of Woleco Hotel Supplies Ltd. from Hunter Amenities International Ltd. (Pan-Asia Business).

• Willamette Management Associates, Inc. - Sale to Citizens Financial Group Inc. (NYSE).

• Turtle Wax, Inc. – Acquisition by this US company of the European car care business of Sara Lee/DE N.V.

• Ecolab Inc. - Acquisition by this NYSE company of Purolite Corporation (USD 3.7 billion) noting this is Ecolab's second largest M&A transaction ever with the largest being the Nalco deal above.

• Evonik Industries AG - Acquisition by this stock-listed German company of J. M. Huber Corp.'s silica business (USD 630 million).

• Marel hf. - Acquisition by the largest stock-listed Icelandic company of Wenger Manufacturing (USD 540 million).

• Starbucks Corporation – Acquisition by this NASDAQ company of a controlling interest in Beijing Mei Da Coffee Co. Ltd., the operator of 60 Starbucks retail stores in Beijing and Tianjin, People’s Republic of China.

• Gardner Denver, Inc. - Acquisition by this NYSE company of nash_elmo Holdings (former division of Siemens AG) (USD 224 million).

• Evonik Industries AG - Acquisition by this stock-listed Germany company of Porocel Group (USD 210 million).

• Brady Corporation - Carve-out and divestiture by this NYSE company of its Asian and European die-cast business to Boyd Corporation (NYSE) (USD 192 million).

• SwissairGroup AG – Acquisition by SR Technics of the former B-1 bomber manufacturing facility from Boeing in Palmdale, California, to establish a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, hailed by California Governor Davis as "the largest investment by a foreign company in California in a decade."

• Recognized as a "Star Lawyer" in North America by Acritas
• Ranked lawyer for Corporate/M&A, Illinois, Chambers USA, 2014-2016
• "Foreign expert" in Germany and the US for Corporate/M&A, Chambers Global, 2012-2013
• Ranked lawyer, The International Who’s Who of Merger & Acquisition Lawyers, 2012
• Awardee, Christifideles Award, Chicago Archdiocese, 2012
• "Leader in Corporate/M&A: Overseas Counsel," Chambers Global, 2011
• Highly recommended for M&A transactions, The Legal 500 US, 2010
• Profiled lawyer, Chicago Lawyer

• German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest - Member of Board, Strategic Planning Committee
• St. Athanasius School Board - Chairman (2 years), Member (4 years)

Dieter is active in many international organizations. He has been a long-time member of the board of directors of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, and serves on its Strategic Planning Committee. Over the years, he has held various leadership positions for international issues with the Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, and the Greater Chicago Chapter of the United Nations Association - USA.

On the civic and charitable front, Dieter is a long-standing member of the board of directors of the Juvenile Protective Association, a 125-year old social welfare agency founded by Jane Addams. He also launched and has chaired for over 12 years at Baker McKenzie the Chicago office’s Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, which has been extended to all North American offices. The father of four children, he served on the St. Athanasius School Board, including two years as Chairman. Dieter has been a mentor and financial sponsor for various African-American high school students through Link Unlimited. As an Eagle Scout, he has been an Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 912 in Evanston, Illinois. In 2014-2015, along with subsequent updates, he led the development with about 2000 collective pro bono hours by 150 volunteers of the Homeless Youth Handbook, a 250-page and online resource for homeless youth (www.homelessyouth.org) and those who support them in the State of Washington (with Starbucks) and the State of Minnesota (with Ecolab), which can be viewed here.  

• Berlin
• Frankfurt