Noerr advises Volkswagen Financial Services AG on the acquisition of a majority interest in LogPay Transport Services GmbH

Noerr has advised Volkswagen Financial Services AG on another strategic investment in a German company. Europe’s largest automotive financial services provider is acquiring around 51 per cent of the shares in LogPay Transport Services GmbH, a subsidiary of DVB Bank SE, thereby expanding its stake in the cross-European business in fuel cards and service cards and the fuel trade.

By acquiring LogPay Transport Services, Volkswagen Financial Services will widen its diverse range of fuel and service cards, which focuses on well-known brands such as Aral, Shell, Total and AS24, to cover other suppliers as well. Volkswagen Financial Services already has more than 300,000 fuel and service cards in its portfolio in Germany and turns over more than 380 million litres a year as a fuel trader in the passenger car segment. Further growth is now set to take place in the HGV sector. Apart from expanding the range of fuel and service cards it offers, Volkswagen Financial Services will also be able to offer a toll service through LogPay Transport Services and to process payments directly using the fuel cards – a service which is available for a total of 18 European countries.

The competition authorities still have to approve the transaction.

A Noerr team led by Felix Blobel and Ariane Neubauer advised on the transaction. The two Berlin partners previously advised Volkswagen Financial Services in 2015 on the acquisition of a majority interest in sunhill technologies GmbH, a European pioneer in mobile payment processes, especially for parking.

Advisors to Volkswagen Financial Services AG: Noerr LLP

Felix Blobel, Ariane Neubauer (joint lead, Corporate, Berlin), Dr Jens H. Kunz (Financial Regulatory, Frankfurt), Dr Carsten Heinz (Tax), Peter Stauber (Antitrust, both Berlin), Tobias Kugler (IT, Frankfurt)

Associates: Dr Charlotte Sander (Employment, Berlin), Christoph Klessing (Financial Regulatory, Frankfurt), Dr Florian Schiefer (Tax, Berlin)

In-house law (Braunschweig): Dr Christian Fahrenholz (senior legal counsel)