Freshfields advises Daimler on major investment by Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments

Aabar is controlled by the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), which is wholly owned by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Aabar will become a major shareholder of Daimler through a capital increase by approximately 10% with exclusion of subscription rights of existing shareholders. After acquiring all new shares, Aabar will hold approximately 9.1% of the new share capital. The issue price of the shares is €20.27 per share, resulting in an equity contribution for Daimler of €1.95bn.

Daimler and IPIC have also agreed a future strategic cooperation which will focus on joint initiatives in the areas of electric vehicles, development and production of innovative compound materials to be used in automotive manufacturing and social projects.

The Freshfields team included partners Christoph L. Gleske and Andreas König (both finance and corporate), Christian Decher, Ferdinand Fromholzer and Eberhard Seydel (all corporate) as well as counsel Ralph Kogge, principal associate Tilman Wink and associates Jens H Kunz, Majka Cernicky, Sebastian Füg, Nikolai Vokuhl (all corporate) and Tilmann Gütt (finance).