CO.BO.T. It is an Italian company that was founded in 1990. They are now recognized as winding specialists across Europe. Brush Group acquired CO.BO.T to expand its production capacity to support the expansion in the UK electricity grid, and to consolidate their presence on the European market. Alberti Fontana Peron Cera, (AFPC Societa tra Avvocati), assisted the sellers with the legal aspects of the transaction. Francesco Fontana was assisted by Giorgia Michelleetto, Claudia Berto and Alberti Fontana.
Q&A With Francesco Fontana
Please explain the role played by Alberti Fontana Peron Cera, (AFPC Societa tra Avvocati), and the tasks that you performed as part of the responsibilities of your role in assisting this acquisition.
I’m a founding partner at Alberti Fontana Peron Cera, a law firm based in Italy with about 40 employees. We specialize in corporate and commercial laws and advise Italian and foreign businesses on M&A transactions, reorganization of corporate structures and restructuring.
I am the head of corporate law. I was the head of the corporate law department.
Could you describe your due diligence process for a purchase and how you adapt it to each client’s needs? If so, how do you do this while ensuring a thorough evaluation whilst still catering to them?
On the seller’s end, it is important to collect and examine any information that may have an adverse effect on the sale of the shares or, in any event, that could become or be an obstacle in the transaction.
It is important to anticipate and resolve – as much as possible – any events that would otherwise constitute a condition precedent. Sellers can enter the transaction more confidently and with a clear understanding of when the deal will be implemented.
What are the challenges that you may encounter when tackling a project that is of this nature? How do you and your colleagues usually address them?
You acknowledge that in many transactions, a requirement is to separate – prior to the execution of a deed of conveyance – certain real estate or assets and remove or fix other shareholders (others than the sellers) by liquidating their positions.
The value of AFPC is in the human resources and the synergy that exists between my Law Firm’s departments (corporate law and intellectual property law as well as labor and criminal law). This allows us to make a rapid and material assessment on legal issues we may face in corporate transactions.