Press Release

HT Troplast GmbH sells ITS Dynos Business UNIT to M2 Capital Partners

Milbank’s Munich Office Acts as Advisor to the Seller and Its Shareholders Carlyle and Advent

MUNICH, GERMANY, August 26, 2005 – HT Troplast GmbH, which was acquired by a consortium of private equity funds consisting of The Carlyle Group and Advent International from RÜTGERS AG at the end of 2004, sold its vulcanized fiber business unit Dynos to the Swiss private equity fund M2 Capital Partners. The parties agreed to keep the purchase price confidential. The transaction is scheduled to become effective at the end of this month.

The Munich office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP advised HT Troplast GmbH and its shareholders Carlyle and Advent in the transaction. HT Troplast, the world’s leading plastics converter, manufactures high-quality plastic products for a wide range of industries.

The Milbank team consisted of Dr. Rolf Fueger (Partner – Munich, lead), Stefan Kroeker (Associate – Munich, M&A), Dr. Thomas Kleinheisterkamp (Associate – Munich, Tax) and Stephan Dulitz (Associate – Frankfurt, Finance)

MILBANK IN EUROPE:
Milbank opened its first European office in London 25 years ago and opened a second European office in Frankfurt in 2001 and Munich in 2004. The firm’s presence in Europe has more than doubled in the last two years, with growing strengths in corporate, capital markets, private equity, outsourcing and litigation.

The firm’s Global Corporate/M&A Group has worked on some of the most sophisticated transactions in every geographical market. Milbank’s London office has been involved in some of the most complex acquisitions and private equity investments in Europe. The Frankfurt office is a leader in sophisticated cross-border lease and acquisition finance transactions. The Munich office is widely recognized for its expertise in public M&A and private equity, as well as tax and financial structuring.

Notable Milbank deals in Germany include:

• Representing ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG in connection with Axel Springer AG’s purchase of a majority interest in ProSiebenSat.1 Media.
  
  

• Representing Sulo GmbH in the sale of its Australian and New Zealand operations to GS Private Equity.
  
  

• Advising Honsel Leichtmetall GmbH & Co. KG in connection with the settlement of judicial appraisal proceedings relating to its take-private in 1999.
  
  

• Advising the shareholders of Ciao AG in connection with the sale of all shares in the company to Greenfield Online Inc.
  
  

• Representing ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG in connection with its take over of all interests in EUVÍA Media AG & Co. KG.
  
  

• Advising on the shareholder agreements, transaction structure and tax issues in the acquisition of HT Troplast AG (now: HT Troplast GmbH) by private equity firms The Carlyle Group and Advent International.
  
  

• Representing BC Partners in connection with the exit from its 48.9% stake in KTM Group GmbH.
  
  

• Representing Apax Partners in its leveraged buyout of LR International.
  
  

• Representing JP Morgan Partners in the sale of its stake in Gerresheimer Glas.
  
  

• Representing the Carlyle Group in the sale of its stake in BERU AG to Borg Warner.
  
  

• Representing the Carlyle Group in the sale of its stake in Honsel International Technologies to Ripplewood Holdings.
  
  

• Representing the private equity sponsors in the €2.7 billion Acquisition by Kabel Deutschland GmbH of three separate German cable companies (ish, iesy and Kabel Baden-Württemberg).
  
  

• €2.6 Billion Leveraged Buyout of Cognis Group: The LBO of the specialty chemicals business of the German company Henkel was completed in record time by employing many of the techniques pioneered in the earlier Messer Griesheim LBO. Recently, Cognis completed an innovative €1.6 billion recapitalization.
  
  

• Representing the Goldman Sachs private equity funds in their participation in the €1.8 billion LBO of the broadband cable network of Deutsche Telekom AG and the creation of Kabel Deutschland GmbH.

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a global law firm headquartered in New York, with offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Palo Alto, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Milbank is a recognized leader in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and corporate finance, project finance, acquisition finance and other major fields of legal practice. Milbank has English, German and U.S. law capabilities, and provides a full range of services to many of the world’s leading financial, industrial and commercial enterprises, as well as governments, institutions and individuals.