Ipsos SA (ENXTPA:IPS) entered into an agreement to acquire 4 global divisions of GfK Research from GfK SE for an enterprise value of approximately €110 million on July 30, 2018. The acquisition will be financed through the existing credit facilities of Ipsos. As on June 30, 2018, Ipsos had more than €300 million of available credit lines. Close to 1,000 GfK professionals would join Ipsos on closing. The transaction is subject to approval of anti-trust authorities and is expected to close on or around September 30, 2018. As of September 17, 2018, merger clearance has been obtained from relevant anti-trust authorities. The transaction is now expected to close on October 1, 2018. Thomas Meurer, Emanuel P. Strehle, Alf-Henrik Bischke , Vera Jungkind, Hendrik Bockenheimer, Lucina Berger, Matthias Scheifele, Gunther Wagner, Peter Wehner, Patrick H. Wilkening, Elisabeth Kreuzer, Jesco Lindner, Benedikt Statz, Maximilian Schauf, David Harbecke, Anja Balitzki, Christian Dankerl, Norman Koschmieder, Deniz Tschammler, Tobias Winkler, Marius Mayer and Maximilian Wosgien of Hengeler Mueller acted as legal advisors to GfK. Reza Joomun, Firas Abou Merhi and Théophile Redaud of Mazars Société d'Avocats acted as legal advisors to Ipsos SA. Klaus Banke, Jean-Patrice Labautière, Claude-Étienne Armingaud, Patricia Milch, Kerstin Hanke, Daniel Erd, Nils Neumann, Leonie Meißner, Olaf Fiss, Hala Nehmé, Rodolphe Amaudric Du Chaffaut, Annette Mutschler-Siebert, Francesco Carloni, Marion Baumann, Rainer Schmitt, Michael Kreft, Kevin Stichter, Tom Wallace, Jeroen Smets, Simon Poh, Katrin Hristova, Alessandro Di Mario, Gabriela Da Costa, Christine Artus and Felipe Creazzo of K&L Gates acted as legal advisors to Ipsos. Andreas Stoecklin, Kevin Iudicello and Philipp Bose of Duff & Phelps acted as financial advisors for GfK. Christoph Neeracher, Luca Jagmetti, Raphael Annasohn, Jonatan Riegler, Thomas Stoltz, Martina Plüss, Corrado Rampini, Jonas Bornhauser, Laura Widmer, Susanne Schreiber and Cyrill Diefenbacher of Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to GfK. Ipsos SA (ENXTPA:IPS) completed the acquisition of 4 global divisions of GfK Research from GfK SE on October 10, 2018.