Deloitte Corporate Finance Advisory acted as exclusive financial and legal advisor to Nippon Steel Engineering in the sale of Steinmüller Babcock Environment GmbH to Hitachi Zosen Inova AG

Deloitte Corporate Finance Advisory acted as exclusive financial and legal advisor to Nippon Steel Engineering Co., Ltd. (“NSE”) in the sale of 100% of the shares in Steinmüller Babcock Environment GmbH (“SBE”) to Hitachi Zosen Inova AG (“HZI”).

About the transaction

A cross-functional international team of Deloitte in Germany and Japan, led by Claudius Thiell (Managing Director) and Lutz Illichmann (Assistant Director) supported by Nicole Heep and Luca Haberland (all Financial Lead Advisory Germany), Kotaro Watanabe (Partner) and Yoshiyasu Tominaga (Managing Director) (both Financial Lead Advisory Japan), Andreas Jentgens (Partner) and Marc Oliver Stock (Counsel) (both Deloitte Legal Germany) and Takashi Domon (Partner Deloitte Legal Japan) (together “Deloitte”) successfully advised Nippon Steel Engineering Co., Ltd., the engineering company representing the Nippon Steel Group, on its disposal of 100% of the shares in Steinmüller Babcock Environment GmbH to Hitachi Zosen Inova AG.

SBE is one of the leading companies for the design, construction and maintenance of plants and components for thermal waste treatment and flue gas cleaning. In its more than 150-year history, the German company has always stood for pioneering spirit and its profound and comprehensive expertise in these sectors. The combination gives both companies access to complementary markets, while the HZI group will be able to offer its customers an expanded range of products and services.

“We are delighted to welcome the Steinmüller Babcock Engineering team,” said Bruno-Frédéric Baudouin, CEO of Hitachi Zosen Inova. “For decades, HZI has pursued the goal of offering our customers the best possible service and market-leading technologies. SBE’s team has tremendous experience and expertise, especially in the firing and boiler segments. Together with SBE, HZI will be able to expand its offerings not only in the Central and Northern European market, but also provide our customers around the world with a broader range of services related to their EfW plants. With a combined installed base in Europe in the range of 40% of the existing plants, joining the forces of the two companies ensures mid-term that HZI is in a unique position to bring amazing benefits to all owners of EfW assets”.

During the process, Deloitte demonstrated first-class cross border execution capabilities through the strength of Deloitte’s German-Japanese transaction team covering all aspects of the transaction: Financial Lead Advisory, Legal and Tax SPA Advisory and Vendor Due Diligence support (Legal, Financial, Tax).

The transaction is still subject to the approval of the respective authorities. Closing is expected in February 2022. On that date, SBE’s brand, expertise and workforce will officially become part of the HZI Group.

About the Client

NSE is the engineering company representing the Nippon Steel Group.  SBE is a world leading provider of Waste to Energy and flue gas treatment solutions, offering a strong track record based on many years of consolidated experience derived from its historical heritage. NSE has been the sole shareholder of SBE since 2014.

About Deloitte – Corporate Finance Advisory

As leading independent M&A advisors, we provide M&A deal execution and financial advisory services to large and mid-market corporations as well as to private equity firms globally. We offer financial advice and insight at every stage of a transaction – from consideration of strategic options to transaction execution, be it an IPO, acquisition or divestment, restructuring or fast track disposal. We pride ourselves in our independent advice to our clients.

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