Andersen in the rent of the CAAR Group’s business units to Star7

Consulting Automotive Aerospace Railway group with reliable automotive know-how and a solid offering of engineering solutions opts for a corporate restructuring path with consulting from Andersen professionals

Andersen advised the Consulting Automotive Aerospace Railway (CAAR) group on the rent of business units to Star7, a company active in content and product information.

An interdisciplinary team coordinated by partners Ivan Gasco, Stefano Uglietti, and Gherardo Cadore, acting as a global advisor for M&A, legal, tax, and restructuring activities, supported the operational strategy of the Turin-based group founded in 2009 by Francesco Ellena, which operates in the Automotive, Aerospace & Defence, Railway, Agriculture, Energy, Logistics, Infrastructure, and Electronics sectors and is a reference pole in the segments in which the group is active. To ensure business continuity and as part of its debt restructuring operation, CAAR has chosen to conclude this agreement with Star7, effective as of 1 January 2023.

The agreement also includes project contracts for large customers in the Automotive, Defence, and Agriculture sectors, and the employment contracts of approximately 320 employees, the vast majority of whom are engineers.

The lease agreements signed with the support of Andersen have a duration of six months, relate to the business unit of CAAR SpA (based in Turin) and the subsidiary STI Srl (based in Bolzano) and amount to a total of EUR 120,000 per year, plus VAT. The lease provides for the assignment to Star7 and the establishment of rights similar to real rights of enjoyment over the foreign subsidiaries in Brazil and Serbia.

The agreement has an automatic renewal for a further six months if CAAR does not decide to transfer the business unit to Star7. Thereafter, the contract is considered terminated, unless otherwise agreed between the parties.

Andersen advised CAAR on all M&A, legal, tax, and restructuring activities. In particular, the legal aspects of the transaction were handled by Gherardo Cadore, and the financial advisory and tax activities were conducted by Ivan Gasco, assisted by Andrea Belfiore and Federico Ciravegna. The restructuring aspects of the transaction were supervised by the tax-legal team composed of Stefano Uglietti, Natascia Alesiani, Alessandra Nodari, and Marta Pasqui.

Star7 was assisted by the international law firm Gianni & Origoni with a team composed of partners Rosario Zaccà and Gerardo Carbonelli, assisted by Gaia Casciano, Riccardo Fogliano and Beatrice Pigorini for the M&A aspects. The restructuring aspects of the transaction were handled by partner Luca Jeantet and Federico Roberi. Partner Emanuele Panattoni and Margherita Piromalli followed the labour profiles. Partner Raffaele Sansone worked on the market disclosure aspects, while the real estate profiles were handled by Tommaso Rudelli.