AUO Corporation (TWSE:2409) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% stake in Behr-Hella Thermocontrol GmbH from HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA (XTRA:HLE) and MAHLE Behr GmbH & Co. KG for an enterprise value of ?600 million on October 2, 2023.

The transaction financed through AUO's internal cash resources. HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA (XTRA:HLE) and MAHLE Behr GmbH & Co.

KG selling each 50% stake in Behr-Hella Thermocontrol GmbH. Behr-Hella Thermocontrol GmbH generated the sales of approximately ?619.1 million, operating profit of ?16.2 million, EBITDA of ?76.8 million and net profit of ?9 million for the year ended 2022. The acquisition has been approved by the AUO board of directors.

The transaction is subject to clearance of customary antitrust and regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close by mid-2024. Morgan Stanley Taiwan Limited acted as financial adviser and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP acted as legal advisor to AUO Corporation (TWSE:2409).

Christian Vogel, Dimitri Slobodenjuk, Joachim Schütze, homas Voland, Gunnar Sachs, Haruka Okihara, Gerold Jaeger, Claudia Milbradt, Florian Reiling, Ines Keitel, Christopher Fischer, Olaf Mertgen,Cord von Mandelsloh and Bettina Steinhauer of Clifford Chance Partnerschaftsgesellschaft acted as legal advisor to HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA (XTRA:HLE) and MAHLE Behr GmbH & Co. KG.

Annika Clauss, Frank Burmeister, Hendrik Bockenheimer, Christoph Wilken, Gunther Wagner, Jan D. Bonhage, Matthias Rothkopf and Andrea Schlaffge of Hengeler Mueller Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten mbB acted as legal advisor to AUO Corporation. Lee and Li, Attorneys-at-Law, Gonzalez Calvillo SC, Schoenherr Bulgaria, Cyrill Shroff of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Haiwen & Partners acted as legal advisor to AUO Corporation. Miranda So, Leo Borchardt, Xi Shi, Jürgen Schindler and Alon Gurfinkel of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP acted as legal advisor to AUO Corporation.

Dr. Jochen Tyrolt and Johannes Schrägle of Gleiss Lutz acted as legal advisor to MAHLE Behr GmbH & Co. KG.