Baker McKenzie advises Meili Holding on the acquisition of ACPS Group

Baker McKenzie has advised Meili Holding GmbH, a manufacturer of springs for the automotive industry and subsidiary of Zhejiang Meili High Technology Co. from China, on the acquisition of the ACPS Group. The ACPS Group is a leading manufacturer of towbars, known under the Oris brand. As part of the acquisition, Meili Technology acquired all shares (100 percent) in Hitched Holdings 3 B.V. ("HH3") from Hitched Holdings 2 B.V. by way of an all-cash transaction through Meili Holding GmbH. HH3 holds and controls the central business areas of the ACPS Group through its domestic and foreign subsidiaries.

"We are very pleased to have been able to accompany our client in this important transaction together with our experienced team from Amsterdam and Shanghai. Based on the technical strengths and strong market position of the ACPS Group, our client has considerable growth potential and the opportunity to further expand its market share in the national and international market for towbars," commented Dr. Thomas Gilles, lead partner of the transaction.

Meili Germany GmbH, based in Lindlar, is the parent company of Meili Holding GmbH. The family-owned, medium-sized company employs over 100 people and was founded in 1904. Its core competence is the development and production of springs for the automotive industry in various wire diameters and designs.

ACPS Automotive is considered the market and technology leader in the field of towing brackets for passenger cars, SUVs and vans. The company was founded in Stuttgart in 1955 under the name ORIS and generated sales of around 440 million euros in the 2024 financial year with around 2,200 employees. ACPS develops, produces and sells its towing and carrier systems at ten locations in Europe, North America and Asia under the ORIS brand.


Legal adviser to Meili Holding GmbH:
Baker McKenzie:

Lead: Corporate/M&A: Dr. Thomas Gilles (partner, Frankfurt), Dr. Markus Mörtel (counsel, Frankfurt)

Team:
Corporate/M&A: Fabian Hoell (associate, Frankfurt), Rebecca Kuijpers-Zimmermann (partner, Amsterdam), Philip Lückmann (senior associate, Amsterdam)

FenXun*
Team:
M&A: Jeff Xu (partner, Shanghai), Yumeng Li, Cora Wu und Karyn Gu (all associates, Shanghai)
Banking & Finance: Grace Li (partner, Shanghai)

*FenXun, a leading Chinese law firm, established a joint office with Baker McKenzie in China in 2015 under the name Baker McKenzie FenXun