Find Lawyers in Frankfurt/Main, Germany for Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Practice Area Overview
In Germany, Mergers and Acquisitions are governed by contract law and corporate law. In addition, different types of transactions are subject to a number of regulatory requirements. Regarding listed stock corporations, the Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act implementing the EU Takeover Directive, the Stock Exchange Act, and the Offering Prospectus Act impose additional requirements. Further, transactions meeting certain thresholds require clearance by the German competition authorities. Moreover, restrictions under the Foreign Trade and Payments Act may also apply.
Many transactions in Mergers and Acquisitions must be notarised by notaries public. This is true for asset deals involving the transfer of real estate, reorganisation procedures under the Transformation Act, and the acquisition of shares in limited liability companies (Gesellschaften mit beschränkter Haftung, “GmbHs”). Notaries public are also responsible for transmitting the updated list of shareholders to the commercial register after a transaction, a necessary prerequisite for acquisition of shareholder status. Given that GmbHs are very common in Germany, notaries public play a significant role in Mergers and Acquisitions.
Lawyers are involved in the entire transaction process. First, they generally assist in drafting a confidentiality agreement and a letter of intent. What follows is a due diligence process by which lawyers analyse whether the acquisition entails any significant legal risks. In the next phase, lawyers are responsible for drafting share or asset purchase agreements, taking into account any risks identified in the due diligence exercise. They also liaise with the notaries public, take part in negotiations, supervise closing and post-closing, and are responsible for other implementation work. Beyond that, lawyers advise board members and management on legal obligations and shareholder relations in connection with the transaction.
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Dr Christof Aha is Partner at BEITEN BURKHARDT in Frankfurt and a member of the Corporate / M&A practice group. He advises national and international companies on the planned arrangement, structuring and implementation of transactions in the mid and small-cap sector. He also defends the interests of his Clients in transaction-related litigation.
Dr. Jan Bauer is head of Skadden’s private equity practice in Germany and leads the firm’s German offices. He focuses on advising private equity and corporate clients on complex cross-border M&A transactions, including private and public deals as well as joint ventures. He also advises on corporate governance matters, corporate restructurings and capital markets-related issues.
Dr. Markus Bauer advises both German and international clients in connection with national and cross-border corporate acquisitions, the formation and administration of joint ventures, private equity transactions and the structuring and restructuring of corporations and corporate groups. A further focus of his work is on advising management boards, managing directors and supervisory boards of predominantly medium-sized companies on their respective duties and the development of compliance prog...
Christian studied law at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. After completing his legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court of Berlin, he wrote his doctoral thesis on legal issues of the GmbH with Prof. Dr. Wolfram Timm at the University of Münster. Since 1991 he has been practicing as a lawyer. Prior to founding the Frankfurt office in 1998 as a partner, he worked for several years for a renowned large German law firm in Frankfurt and Brussels. Christian regularly advises me...
Dr. Annette Bödeker is partner in the Frankfurt office of Friedrich Graf von Westphalen & Partner. She is a renowned expert for corporate and M&A. She joined from Arnold & Porter where she has been responsible for the Corporate and M&A business at Arnold & Porter’s sole German office. She started her career with Hengeler Mueller, moving on to Linklaters where she was made partner practising in the Corporate/M&A group for a number of years. Dr. Bödeker h...
Ulf Gibhardt studied law at Christian-Albrecht University in Kiel (Germany). He additionally studied business administration at the distance teaching university FernUniversität in Hagen (Germany), completing his studies in 2005 with a thesis on tax-oriented structures for the acquisition of shares and interests. His legal training included working for a law firm in Shanghai (China). He was admitted to the German Bar in 2002, as a tax advisor in 2005, and as a civil-law notary in 2015. Ul...
Dr. Holger Hofmeister advises corporate clients and private equity firms in connection with acquisitions, divestitures, public takeovers, joint ventures, and other M&A and corporate matters, including capital markets-related issues. In addition, he advises on corporate governance-related matters and corporate restructurings.
Dr. Matthias Horbach is head of Skadden’s German M&A practice, advising on complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions, inbound and outbound investments, corporate finance, and various other corporate transactions. Mr. Horbach’s M&A work includes advising a broad range of clients, including industrial companies, private equity investment firms and investment banks, on acquisitions, dispositions, cross-border mergers, joint ventures and public takeover transactions. In th...
Dr. Stephan Hutter focuses on international capital markets transactions, cross-border corporate matters and M&A transactions as well as corporate governance and compliance matters. Dr. Hutter has a particularly broad range of experience in initial public offerings, capital increases and high-yield debt financings involving international securities offerings of German, Austrian and Swiss companies, including dual listings and private placements of shares and debt securities in the United ...
Dr. Emanuel C. Ionescu focuses his practice on advising private equity and corporate clients on complex cross-border M&A transactions including acquisitions, divestitures, public takeovers, joint ventures, and other M&A and corporate matters, including capital markets-related issues. Dr. Ionescu frequently counsels clients on corporate governance-related matters and corporate restructurings. In addition, he has experience working on capital markets transactions and compliance matters ...
Dr Detlef Koch is Partner and Head of BEITEN BURKHARDT's Frankfurt office and member of the Corporate / M&A practice group. His focus includes corporate and real estate transactions, advice to and disputes between company bodies as well as companies in the real estate sector. He particularly advises his national and international clients on legal questions regarding transactions, corporate restructurings and aspects of corporate governance.
In her role as a notary and lawyer Dr Laugwitz advises German and international clients, in particular medium-sized companies, investors, and private individuals. She focuses especially on real estate and company law arrangements, above all real estate transactions, the structuring of transactions under company law and conversion procedures as well as the purchasing and selling of companies – at national level as well as concerning transactions with an international angle, depending on ...
Alexander Hoeffler represents corporate clients and private equity firms in connection with a wide range of M&A transactions. Mr. Hoeffler has experience in counseling domestic and international clients on both the buy-side and sell-side. His practice also covers general corporate, restructuring and foreign investment control matters.
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