Factory Systemes group, a French company active in the development of IT services acquired a majority share capital of Wonderware, a company functioning in the market for development and sale of computer systems and industrial software solutions. This acquisition set Factory Group up to serve over 9800 customers in Europe and over 400 System Integrators.
A team of professionals from the law firm, Genesis Avvocati, led by its partners Fulvio Di Domenico and Stefania Pezzini, assisted the three shareholders of Wonderware in the sale of their shares to Factory Systemes group. Genesis Avvocati is headquartered in Milan but through its team of highly specialised experts in business and financial consulting operates in Italy and internationally assisting its clients through a clear and incisive problem-solving approach.
“The role of the lawyer is not only technical but also a relationship of trust. This principle was also confirmed in this case where in 2019 our firm assisted the partners of Wonderware Italia in their purchase of the company shares and, again, we were at their side in the negotiation of this delicate transaction of the sale of their shares to Factory Systemes Group”.
Q&A with Stefania Pezzini
Can you walk us through the professional role you and your team played during this deal and the responsibilities you undertook until the completion of the acquisition?
While one of the shareholders of Wonderware has sold all the shares held in the company, the other two shareholders have in this first phase sold only a part of their shares in the share capital of Wonderware, in which they have retained a role of directors, with the aim of contributing to the further growth of the company. During the negotiations, we were concerned - on the one hand - with very clearly defining the perimeter of the responsibilities assumed by each of the sellers with reference to their respective shares and the obligations assumed by the company, and - on the other hand - with regulating the more complex aspects of the role retained by the two shareholders within the company and the backup solution of exercising the put/call options reciprocally granted by them and the acquiring company.
What form of support does your team provide your clients once the agreement has been made and does this impact the success of the business once they sell?
Our team of professionals is able to create strong alliances with the clients it assists in every transaction, becoming true partners aiming for the same result. This very practical and straightforward approach makes us ideal partners for our clients also in sharing, defining, and executing post-closing strategies aimed at ensuring the maximisation of the investment.
As partner at Genesis Avvocati, how do you think projects like this support the law firm’s growth and how does supporting other businesses develop align with your firms’ ideals?
This project was a further opportunity to highlight the professionalism of our firm and the ability of our professionals to work alongside the entrepreneurs to identify the best possible solution to achieve their goal, which constitutes the hallmark of Genesis Avvocati.
As the head of the Real Estate Department for Studio Genesis Avvocati, how do you ensure to cater differently to each client and having experience with various acquisitions and more does your process significantly alter for each one you take on?
Each real estate transaction in which we provide assistance, involving virtually every kind of investor and every type of property, has its own peculiarities. These certainly require the ability to construct and negotiate each transaction precisely on the basis of its characteristics. This is done by deploying different specific skills that the professionals of our firm have acquired also thanks to an extensive experience in this field.
