Abreu advises E.Leclerc Group Portuguese companies on several operations
Abreu Advogados has counselled Chavesidis on its merger, and PHB on its spin-off
Abreu advised E.Leclerc Group Portuguese companies Chavesidis and PHB in several operations related to a broader restructuring process inside E.Leclerc.
The operations were a merger of Chavesidis with the company that owns the real estate assets in which PHB operates, and a PHB spin-off incorporating a new commercial company to which the movable assets related to E.Leclerc Group were transferred.
These operations are part of a broader restructuring process that began at the end of 2019 with the negotiation for the acquisition by Chavesidis of the company that held the real estate assets in which Chavesidis’ activity is carried out. This one was followed by the merger of these two entities, which allows Chavesidis to hold directly the commercial establishments and real estate in which its activity is carried out.
At the same time, PHB, which held the majority of Chavesidis’ share capital, reorganised its activity, emphasing its movable assets in order to set up a new company that will thus become part of the E.Leclerc Group.
The conclusion of these operations allows the companies to substantially reduce the costs of their activity and reorganise the existing corporate group, adapting it to the current functional and operational organisation.
Chavesidis was one of the first companies of the E.Leclerc Group in Portugal, having been set up in 1995 with Portuguese and French shareholders to develop distribution activity in Portugal, namely in Chaves, under the trademark E.Leclerc.
In 2008, after the natural evolution of E.Leclerc Group business in Chaves, PHB was already constituted by the current shareholders, with a view to the restructuring of the majority of Chavesidis’ share capital, which has now been transferred as part of the demerger.
Abreu Advogados´ team was led by Porto office Corporate, Commercial and M&A partner Maria de Deus Botelho (pictured).
Abreu was responsible for the structuring of all the legal transactions identified above, has also prepared the merger and split-up projects, promoted the adoption of the approvals of the various corporate bodies involved in these processes, drafted the merger and split-up acts and is finally responsible for the final procedures for the conclusion of the processes, including the necessary articulation with the governing bodies of E.Leclerc Group in France.
