FGvW provided comprehensive legal advice to the Zürcher Group on the acquisition of all shares in BM Bahndienste GmbH and its subsidiary, BM Bahnberufe GmbH.

The Zürcher Group, based in Meißenheim, has been active for nearly 70 years and has approximately 200 employees at six locations. The Group opterated in the fields of track construction, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, recycling, and logistics. It offers its customers technically high-quality, economically optimized, and reliable services from a single source for both individual orders and large-scale projects in the areas of maintenance, new installations, planning, project management, and project implementation. In recent years, the management and executive board have continuously developed the company, expanding both its strategic direction and its service portfolio.

Bahndienste GmbH is a specialist in rail-based logistics, in particular in the areas of track construction logistics, personnel services, traction, and transport. The company plans and executes rail logistics services and provides transport operations either independently or on behalf of third parties. It was particularly important to BM Bahndienste GmbH’s previous shareholders to ensure that the existing customers and employees of BM Bahndienste GmbH would continue to benefit from a medium-sized, regional shareholder after the transaction. They found such a shareholder in the Zürcher Group.

The management of the Zürcher Group also considers the continued, long-standing and trusting cooperation between BM Bahndienste GmbH and its customers to be very important. Therefore, ensuring continuity at both the management and employee levels was a key concern for the Zürcher Group during this transaction.

The acquisition marks an important step in Zürcher Group’s strategy to further strengthen its capabilities in the areas of track construction, civil engineering, and underground engineering, ensuring the continued delivery of independent, high-quality services. This transaction enables the Zürcher Group to expand its rail-based logistics services, thereby strengthening the timely and high-quality processing of customer orders. The merger of the two companies and the consistent expansion of logistics activities in the rail sector are expected to have a positive effect on the Zürcher Group and BM Bahndienste GmbH, both regionally and supraregionally.

An interdisciplinary M&A team from our Freiburg office led by Dr Hendrik Thies provided comprehensive legal advice to the Zürcher Group during the transaction. Commercial and tax advice to the Zürcher Group was provided by tax advisor Michael Denk, partner at the law firm Götz.Grimm.Denk Wirtschaftsprüfer.Steuerberater GmbH & Co. KG (GGD) and his team. FGvW and GGD frequently advise jointly and successfully in the interests of their clients on complex M&A projects.

The shareholders and sellers of BM Bahndienste GmbH were advised by attorney Dr. Wolf-Patric Makrutzki (Dr. Makrutzki Dr. Mauch Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten mbB) and by tax advisors Reiner Lothspeich and Manuel Gegg (Reiner Lothspeich Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH).

Advisors to Zürcher Group:

Dr Hendrik Thies, Partner (Lead, M&A, Corporate)
Dr Ron Fahlteich, Associate (M&A, Corporate)
Dr Andreas Schubert, Associate (Employment Law)

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