Global law firm Freshfields has advised Merck KGaA, the German multinational science and technology company, on the agreement to acquire HUB Organoids Holding B.V. (‘HUB’) from Stichting Ontwikkelfonds voor Organoïden. The transaction is subject to satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions.

HUB possesses the foundational patent portfolio on organoids and has a service offering ranging from new model generation to assay development and high-throughput screening. This adds to and enhances Merck’s portfolio of cell culture reagents, tools and benchtop instruments for academia, biotech, and pharma customers. HUB’s technology enables drug developers to identify and validate potential clinical candidates in a patient-relevant in vitro system, closing the gap between the lab and clinical trials. The company is based in Utrecht, the Netherlands and employs around 70 people.

Freshfields is advising Merck on all legal aspects of the acquisition, working closely with Merck’s in-house legal and tax teams led by Julia Dolleschel (Senior Corporate Counsel M&A), Amanda Darden (Senior Corporate Counsel Life Science Legal), Vivien Tannoch (Head of Patents Life Science), Denise Roth (Head of International and M&A Tax) and Jens Sprado (Director, Group Tax – International and M&A Tax).

The global Freshfields team is being led by Partners Hanneke Rothbarth (Corporate/M&A, Amsterdam) and Lars Meyer (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt/Berlin) as well as Senior Associate Julius Kahn, Associate Lasse de Vooght (both Corporate/M&A, Amsterdam) and Principal Associates Elisabeth Wulf and Maximilian Zellerhoff (both Commercial/M&A, Hamburg).

The team also includes Partners Bob van Kasteren (Tax, Amsterdam), Michael Ramb (Regulatory, Düsseldorf/Berlin), Brechje Nollen (Employment Law) and Mark Egeler (IP), Principal Associate Mark Maarschalkerweerd (Notarial), Senior Associates Daan van Schaik (Tax), Felix Roscam Abbing (Antitrust), Emelde Rubaij Bouman (Corporate/M&A) and Pam Hufman (Employment Law), Associates Noah Beukeboom, Laura Einarson (both Corporate/M&A, all Amsterdam), Philipp Mroz (Commercial/M&A, Hamburg), Rutger Bouma (Tax), Birgit Marks (Notarial), Thom Veldhuizen (Employment Law), Elisa Lambooij, Tess Heystee (both Antitrust), Iris Vlastuin (IP) and Johan Nijmeijer (Real Estate, all Amsterdam) and Professional Support Lawyer Inna Pustal (Frankfurt).