We were advising CARIAD Estonia, a Volkswagen Group’s car software company, on a cross-border merger whereby its Luxembourg parent company is merged into CARIAD Estonia, making it a subsidiary of CARIAD SE.
Strategic adjustment
CARIAD SE is Volkswagen Group’s newest international company, consolidating and expanding the group’s software competencies to develop technological solutions for all Volkswagen brands. CARIAD Estonia as one international location for CARIAD SE was established in March 2020.
Following a strategic adjustment in CARIAD SE in 2021, CARIAD Estonia is becoming the shareholding hub of all non-German CARIAD subsidiaries. CARIAD is still elaborating its vision and plan for other new areas to be managed in Estonia.
At the end of 2021, CARIAD Estonia started managing subsidiaries in China, Sweden, and Israel, thus increasing Estonia’s international reach and cooperation. The management of the remaining subsidiaries will be transferred to CARIAD Estonia during 2022.
The unified architecture for all of the Group’s brands and models from 2025 onwards will open the way to developing the next step in automated driving and is a prerequisite for the fully connected, digital car of tomorrow. More than 40 million Group vehicles are expected to run on the digital CARIAD platforms as early as 2030.
Our services and client team
We were advising CARIAD Estonia throughout the cross-border merger from planning to implementation of the merger, including analysing the possibilities to harmonise the requirements to the merger from Luxembourg and Estonian law perspective. We were also advising CARIAD Estonia on the capital contributions’ tax treatment and analysing relevant court practices and guidelines issued by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.
Our client team is led by associate Nele Suurmets, supported by counsel Piret Lappert as well as partners Karin Madisson, Paul Künnap, and Kaido Künnapas.
