Cleary Gottlieb represented long-standing client SA D’Ieteren NV (D’Ieteren) in its acquisition of (non-voting) preference shares held by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) in Belron, a joint venture of D’Ieteren and CD&R, for a total (book) value of €150 million.
The transaction was announced on February 8, 2020, and closed on February 18, 2020.
The transaction strengthens D’Ieteren’s ownership in Belron in the context of its strong operating performance and underlines D’Ieteren’s long-term partnership and alignment in strategic vision with Belron. The transaction should allow D’Ieteren to maintain over time at least a 50% equity ownership in Belron.
Cleary also represented D’Ieteren in the original sale of a 40% interest in Belron to CD&R in 2018. In addition, Cleary represented Belron in a $1.1 billion pre-sale refinancing and D’Ieteren in its acquisition of Moleskine in 2016.
With 2018 sales of €3.8 billion, Belron is the worldwide leader in vehicle glass repair and replacement, and operates in 35 countries through wholly owned businesses and franchises, with market leading brands including Carglass, Safelite, and Autoglass. In addition, it manages vehicle glass and other insurance claims on behalf of insurance customers. Belron has also expanded its services into the automotive damage and home damage repair and replacement markets.
D’Ieteren is a Euronext Brussels-listed group that currently operates across three businesses: D’Ieteren Auto, that distributes Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, Škoda, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Porsche, and Yamaha vehicles in Belgium and is the country’s No. 1 car distributor, with a market share of around 21% and 1.2 million vehicles on the road; Moleskine, the maker of iconic notebooks and related branded products; and Belron.