International law firm Bird & Bird advised privately held software company Rocket Software, Inc. on the acquisition of the Application Modernization and Connectivity ("AMC") business of Open Text, formerly part of MicroFocus.
Bird & Bird advised Rocket Software on the transaction in 27 jurisdictions predominantly in Europe and Asia (Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore) through its own lawyers and commissioned partner law firms. The focus was on supporting European aspects of the purchase agreement at the end of 2023 and then on the transfer of AMC employees after the agreement was reached.
The
acquisition agreement was signed at the end of November 2023 and closed on May 1, 2024.
Rocket Software has decades of experience in solving complex IT challenges for the largest and most innovative companies. With the acquisition of the AMC business, Rocket Software now offers its customers modernisation software solutions that span from the mainframe to the cloud and has built a more diverse portfolio that closely aligns with customer needs.
Rocket Software was advised by the following Bird & Bird lawyers: Partner
Stefan Münch, Counsel
Dr. Christina Lorenz, LL.M. and associates
Kilian Hummel and
Marina Dolina, LL.M. (all Corporate/M&A, Munich/Frankfurt), partner
Dr. Ralph Panzer (lead) and associates
Dr. Maximilian Koch,
Christoph Lutz and
Vincent Kirsch (all Employment, Munich), partner
Thomas Hey and associates
Alisa Nentwig and
Julia Bellinger (all Employment/Pensions, Düsseldorf), partner
Dr. Rolf Schmich (Tax, Frankfurt), partner
Amedeo Rampolla and associate
Marco Preti (both Employment, Milan), partner
Stefano Silvestri and associates
Linda Pietrostefani and Giorgio Cesari (all Corporate/M&A, Milan), partner
Miguel Pastur and associate
Carlos Zabala (both Employment, Madrid), partner
Lourdes Ayala, associates
Antonio Ballesteros and
Mónica Sangalli (all Corporate/M&A, Madrid), partner
Nathalie Devernay (Employment, Lyon), partner
Bertrand Levy, partner
Etienne Guillou and associate
Clémence Breuil (all Corporate/M&A, Paris), partner
Philip Hartman and associate
Anne-Aimée Dabekaussen (both Employment, The Hague), partner
Katarina Åhlberg and associate
Dasha Arntyr (both Employment, Stockholm), partner
Teea Kemppinen and associate
Noora Heinonen (both Employment, Helsinki), partner
Pieter de Koster, partner
Anton Aerts and associate
Jehan de Wasseige (all Employment, Brussels), partner
Cedric Berckmans, Counsel
Erik Holmgren and associate
Stan Prenen (all Corporate/M&A, Brussels), partner
Brendan O'Brien, associates
Daniel Faulkner and
Nadine McMahon, (all Corporate/M&A, Dublin), partner
Karolina Stawicka and associate
Pawel Wyrebek (both Employment, Warsaw), partner
Diana Purdy and associate
Jacky Chan (both Employment, Hong Kong), partner
Seow Hui Goh and associate Samantha Lau (both Employment, Singapore), partner
Sandra Seah and Counsel
Jonathan Kao (both Corporate/M&A, Singapore).
Inhouse Law: Matthew L. Vittiglio (associate General Counsel, Waltham (United States))
Law firms in Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland, Brazil, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Malaysia were also commissioned.