Latham & Watkins LLP has advised Wintershall Dea AG on the sale of its 50.02% stake in WIGA Transport Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG and WIGA Verwaltungs-GmbH (together WIGA) to Berlin-headquartered company SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (SEFE). SEFE currently holds a 49.98% stake in WIGA and, upon closing of the transaction, will become the company’s sole shareholder. The German Federal Government notified an amendment of the original approval decisions for the recapitalization of SEFE with a view to the applicable acquisition ban. The relevant state aid approval was adopted today. The transaction is subject to merger and subsidy control approval by the European Commission and is expected to be completed in summer 2024. WIGA is the sole shareholder of German regulated gas transmission system operators GASCADE Gastransport GmbH and NEL Gastransport GmbH. These two independent subsidiaries of WIGA operate onshore gas transmission networks in Germany with a combined length of around 4,150 kilometres and a direct connection to five European countries. With its high-capacity gas transportation infrastructure, WIGA plays a key role in ensuring Europe’s energy security. The Latham team was led by Düsseldorf partner Tobias Larisch and Frankfurt partner Stefan Rieger with Düsseldorf associates Katharina Intfeld, Alexander Belk, Ivo Veit Wanwitz, Alexander Pfeifer, Nikolaus Becker, Florian Feistle, Katharina Steinbrueck, and Jan Hendrik Gocha. Advice was also provided on regulatory matters by Frankfurt counsel Joachim Grittmann; on tax matters by partner Hamburg Tobias Klass with associate Julia Wenzel; on FDI matters by Hamburg partner Jana Dammann de Chapto; on corporate/IP matters by Frankfurt partner Susan Kempe-Mueller and associate Daniela Jaeger; on employment matters by Munich counsel Florian Dehmel and associate Christian Strauß; on real estate matters by Frankfurt counsel Sven Nickel; on finance matters by counsel Daniel Splittgerber and associate Ralph Dräger; and on compliance matters by counsel Stefan Bartz.~~