Find Lawyers in Berlin, Germany for Private Equity Law
Practice Area Overview
"Private Equity Law" is effectively a special field within the practice area of "Mergers & Acquisitions Law." It typically covers all legal aspects of the investment activity of private equity investment funds. Such private equity investment funds include "classical" corporate buy-out funds, real estate funds, and infrastructure funds. Recently, it has, however, become more and more difficult to draw an exact line between these classical private equity investment funds and other types of investment funds such as sovereign wealth funds, venture capital funds, family offices, and to a certain extent, hedge funds. The reason is that these other types of investment funds have broadened their scope of activity and are now often competing with private equity investment funds for the same transactions.
A typical private equity transaction (as a distinguishing factor to the other investment activities of investment funds) would be aimed at acquiring a significant portion of the equity (typically at least a majority) in a matured and healthy business with a combination of equity made available by the private equity investment fund and debt provided by banks (the so-called "leverage"). Advising on such leveraged buy-outs, which are by nature very complex and regularly implemented on an accelerated time table, requires a combination of legal expertise in structuring a transaction, acquisition finance (both in the private and public debt markets), and traditional M&A skills (such as performing a due diligence on the target and preparing and negotiating the transaction documentation). Private equity deals relate to targets in all kinds of industry sectors and could result in both a private and a public M&A transaction. Consequently, private equity lawyers work closely with specialist lawyers in areas such as Tax, Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Regulatory, as well as with industry experts in the target's sector. Further complexity is added if the target is acquired out of a bankruptcy or needs to be carved-out of a larger conglomerate before it can be acquired.
On very large transactions, several private equity funds may form a consortium to pursue a transaction jointly. This requires additional expertise in setting up the rules governing such "club deals" from the joint bidding and during the joint ownership and until an exit. In addition, private equity investors offer (and require) the target's management in almost every deal to make a co-investment to incentivise them. Private equity law, hence, extends to the legal aspects of such management equity participation programs.
Private equity lawyers also help their clients to grow the acquired company through additional transactions (so-called "buy & build") and assist them upon an exit through a trade sale or an IPO.
Besides the typical transactional work, Private Equity Law also extends to the formation of private investment funds and advising them during their life in connection with the ever increasing regulatory requirements they have to comply with.
"Private Equity Law" is effectively a special field within the practice area of "Mergers & Acquisitions Law." It typically covers all legal aspects of the investment activity of private equity investment funds. Such private equity investment funds include "classical" corporate buy-out funds, real estate funds, and infrastructure funds. Recently, it has, however, become more and more difficult to draw an exact line between these classical private equity investment funds and other types of investment funds such as sovereign wealth funds, venture capital funds, family offices, and to a certain extent, hedge funds. The reason is that these other types of investment funds have broadened their scope of activity and are now often competing with private equity investment funds for the same transactions.
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Henrik Armah is a shareholder in the M&A/Corporate group of Greenberg Traurig's German office. He advises international and domestic clients on M&A transactions, joint ventures, corporate transformations and on all general matters of corporate law. He specializes in cross border transactions (buy side and sell side). His clients include industry players as well as private equity, venture capital and strategic investors. Henrik is an expert with particular experience in the technology,...
Uwe Bärenz is a partner at POELLATH in Berlin. He focuses on private investment funds, GP and investors advice. He is predominantly engaged in private equity funds, including cross-border work, mainly Luxembourg, tax and regulatory issues, filings, terms and conditions, private and public placements, investors' needs (pension funds, insurance companies, investment funds, fund of funds, private clients), complex secondary transactions. He is one of the most experienced advisors for the es...
Josef Hofschroer focuses his practice on corporate law, with an emphasis on M&A transactions for national and international clients. He particularly advises on all aspects of capital markets and securities law. Furthermore, his practice includes distressed investments as well as joint ventures. Josef has particularly wide-ranging experience in the fields of energy, technology, telecommunications and real estate. Among his clients are start-ups, medium-sized and large companies as well as ...
Tarek Mardini is a partner in the private funds practice group of POELLATH in Berlin. He specializes in comprehensive advice on contract, corporate, regulatory and tax law and market practice in the area of alternative investment funds and asset management. He advises German and international fund managers on fund structuring, as well as institutional investors and family offices on investments in private equity, venture capital, private debt, infrastructure, real estate funds and other alter...
Peter Schorling is chair of the firm’s German Corporate Group, focusing his practice on M&A transactions. Peter advises on all aspects of M&A and corporate law, providing in-depth expertise in buy-side and sell-side transactions, private equity, joint ventures, corporate restructurings and capital markets. In particular, this includes various cross-border projects for international clients. Peter has wide-ranging experience advising clients in the real estate and media, technolo...
Dr. Philip Schwarz van Berk, LL.M . is a partner at POELLATH in Berlin. Philip has been advising German and international fund managers on the structuring of alternative investment funds for over 15 years. He and his team have advised numerous German fund managers on venture capital, buyout and real estate private equity funds. His expertise also includes secondary transactions and advising family offices on investments and investment structures for private equity and venture capital. Philip ...
Amos Veith is a partner of POELLATH's private funds practice in Berlin. He has practised tax and corporate law since 2000 and assisted clients in structuring and reviewing several hundred venture capital and private equity funds and similar alternative investments. He provides fiscal and legal advice to domestic and foreign institutional and private investors and initiators in the foregoing fields of closed-end funds. His clients include many well-known international banks, insurance companie...
Being an Associate in the German Corporate/M&A team, Lukas Gauert advises national and international clients in M&A transactions, the structuring of joint ventures and on all general corporate law matters. Furthermore, he focuses his practice on advising start-ups and on venture capital financings. Prior to joining the firm as an attorney, Lukas Gauert worked as a paralegal and legal clerk in both the Berlin and the New York offices of Greenberg Traurig.
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