3i has announced today the sale of ATESTEO, an international drivetrain testing specialist, to IHO Holding GmbH & Co. KG ("IHO Holding"), holding company of the Schaeffler family.

Background of the transaction:
Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Alsdorf near Aachen, Germany, ATESTEO is the world leader in independent drivetrain testing. It has about 800 employees and 135 testing benches in Germany, Japan, China and North America. Based on cutting-edge testing technology, the company offers a cost efficient alternative to in-house durability testing for automotive OEMs and their suppliers. Its customers include virtually all the leading OEMs and transmission manufacturers.

Transaction Advisors
The Willkie team was led by Mario Schmidt (Corporate, Frankfurt) and included partners Dr. Axel Wahl (Corporate, Frankfurt), Dr. Bettina Bokeloh (Tax, Frankfurt), Susanne Zühlke (Antitrust and Competition, Brussels/Frankfurt) and associates: Matthias Schudlo, Martin Waskowski, Daniel Zakrzewski, Tim Bulian, Lukas Nein, Karsten Silbernagel, (all Corporate, Frankfurt).
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international law firm, comprising more than 650 attorneys with offices in New York, Washington, Houston, Paris, London, Milan, Rome, Frankfurt and Brussels. The headquarters are in New York, 787 Seventh Avenue, Tel.: 001 212 728 8000.

Outside Consultants:
KNPZ Rechtsanwälte (Hamburg, Germany): Dr. Kai-Uwe Plath (Partner), Anokh Singh (Associate);
Zhong Lun Law Firm (Shanghai, China): Zhou Yun, Gao Ting (both Equity Partners), Qu Yingying (Associate).

Frankfurt am Main, December 21, 2017