법무법인(유한) 율촌 | Yulchon LLC

Yulchon successfully assisted Hands Corp. (“Hands”) in completing its investment in and construction of production plants in Morocco in the amount of approximately US$472 million.

Hands is the 5th largest global manufacturer of alloy wheels, and once its production in the Moroccan plants takes place, Hands is expected to be ranked as one of the world’s Top 3 alloy wheel manufacturers. Morocco offers various incentive schemes for foreign automobile and parts manufacturers in order to develop the automotive industry as the core industry of the nation. Given Morocco’s FTA and its geographical proximity with EU, a large number of global auto-parts suppliers, as well as auto manufacturers, are rapidly launching their production facilities in Morocco. Hands aims to gradually increase its production capacity until 2024 and expects to lead the global alloy wheel market by supplying all of its production from the Moroccan plants to European auto manufacturers.

This is a Greenfield project with significant implications since a Korean auto-parts manufacturer was able to gain a strong foothold in the European market under satisfactory terms by successfully negotiating and closing a variety of agreements with the Moroccan Government, construction companies and utilities suppliers. With the support of Gide’s Moroccan branch, Yulchon’s dedicated team led the entire process of negotiating and closing such agreements and provided comprehensive legal advice on various legal and commercial aspects of this project, which ultimately enabled Hands to achieve its ideal investment terms and protections.

This project was undertaken by Yulchon’s C&F Group including, in particular, Joon Hyung Kim and Hyung Ki Lee.