PLC Holding SAS - Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek SC

Client Name: PLC Holding SAS
Other Key Players: Reilly, Penner & Benton
LLP (Pat Hoffert, CPA, partner); GZA
GeoEnvironmental, Inc. (Dave Ruetz)
Type of Deal: Stock acquisition
Size of Deal: Undisclosed
Location: East Troy, Wis.
Principal WHD Team Members: Richard
Silverthorn, Philip Koutnik, David Hertel,
Eric Meier, Erik Eisenmann, Phillip
Bower, Justin Szalanski, Linda Sklenar
(paralegal), Teresa Noeske (paralegal)
Practice Areas Involved: Corporate,
Environmental Law, Real Estate, Labor &
Employment, Litigation, Finance

WHD ASSISTS IN
THE PURCHASE OF
WISCONSIN OVEN
CORPORATION BY
EUROPEAN HOLDING
COMPANY
When France-based PLC Holding SAS had the
opportunity to add East Troy, Wis.-based Wisconsin
Oven Corporation to its portfolio, the decision to
purchase it was only natural. Not only was Wisconsin
Oven a leading manufacturer of industrial ovens for
the aerospace, automotive, composite and finishing
industries—a number of industries that complemented
PLC’s existing businesses—but PLC’s CEO, Philippe
Blandinieres (pictured on the left with Dave Strand,
president and CEO of Wisconsin Oven Corporation),
already had a thorough understanding of the business
as he served on the company’s board of directors.
PLC turned to Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. to serve as
lead counsel for the transaction, which was structured as
a stock purchase. Negotiations relating to this transaction
spanned several months and involved complex areas of
corporate, tax, environmental, and real estate law.
America’s largest OEM supplier of industrial ovens,
Wisconsin Oven produces more than 20 brands of
equipment for companies that provide ovens and
furnaces worldwide. Many of the industries Wisconsin
Oven serves require specific temperature uniformity
and equipment performance documentation, and the
company’s experienced design team is able to meet
even the most stringent standards for oven equipment.
PLC, which is composed of diverse companies such as
Elmetherm, Elino, Wistra, Mecarom Dotcom LTD, and
now Wisconsin Oven, has offices in the United States,
France, Germany, Romania, India and China. It provides
products and services for several industries, including
automotive, aerospace, electronics, chemical, technical
ceramics, porcelain, automation, refractory materials,
and powder metallurgy, and provides customers with
engineering and manufacturing for material handling
systems, automation systems, heat treating industrial
ovens and furnaces.
With the acquisition of Wisconsin Oven, the PLC family
of companies will collectively have the resources and
capability to serve all of the heat processing needs of
its customers regardless of temperature requirements.
The acquisition will also strengthen global opportunities,
expand market reach and position PLC for future growth
and continued success.
THE BIG PICTURE 39