Find Lawyers in 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.
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,...
Wencke Bäsler advises real estate companies on all aspects of real estate transactions, including asset deals, share deals and the management of real estate properties. She also advises on corporate investments and participations, in particular joint ventures. Wencke has broad experience in advising national and international real estate investors, and has wide-ranging experience in handling the sale and acquisition of real estate portfolios, including structuring and financing. Another ...
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...
Dr. Sebastian Bednarz is attorney-at-law, specialist in commercial and corporate law and partner at Möhrle Happ Luther . His practice focuses on corporate law. Here, he advises companies, their executive bodies and shareholders in particular on the law governing limited liability companies and stock corporations, on re-structuring and M&A as well as on capital markets law (compliance of listed companies, corporate actions). Dr. Bednarz regularly publishes academic articles on corpora...
Daniel Benighaus works as Shareholder in the German real estate practice. He advises national and international investors on project developments, real estate transactions and ongoing asset management. One focus of his work is advising on complex project developments such as developments of entire quarters, smart buildings, joint ventures and data centers. He has particular expertise in the sale of project developments in forward deals. Daniel also works as a notary with a focus on real estat...
Sara Berendsen advises on corporate transactions of all kinds, including acquisition and sale, joint ventures and restructuring. Sara has broad experience in the field of M&A transactions for national and international clients (asset and share deals) with a focus on the media, technology & telecommunications and real estate sectors. In addition, she advises on capital market issues and joint ventures.
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 Thorsten Bieg advises national and international companies, creditors, investors and suppliers/customers in situations of crises. He specialises in the areas of insolvency law and restructuring, legal, financial and accounting reorganisation, trusteeships, corporate law, mergers & acquisitions and advice in times of crisis.
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...
Dr Matthias Bruse is a founding partner of POELLATH (formerly P+P Pöllath + Partners). He has practiced corporate law since 1984 and has decades of expertise in transactions with a focus on private equity investments and family-owned businesses. In addition, he is also highly regarded for his corporate law advice, often with regard to succession issues. Matthias is also active as arbitrator, in particular with respect to post-M&A disputes. He is frequently ranked as one of the preemi...
Born in Hamburg in 1963, Jan Dietze studied law in Passau and at King’s College in London, UK, where he obtained his Diploma of Legal Studies. He also studied in Freiburg and at Europa-Kolleg in Bruges, Belgium, where he obtained the Diplôme D’Hautes Études Européennes. Jan Dietze has been a lawyer at ZENK since 1995. His practice focuses on corporate and commercial law and M&A. He also specializes in antitrust law and compliance. Mr. Dietze is a member of ...
Corporate law is the main focus of Verena Eisenlohr’s consultancy work. In addition to representing her clients in court, Ms Eisenlohr assists in founding and restructuring of companies, private equity and venture capital financing as well as M&A transactions. Her business focus is in the health care and biotechnology sectors. In addition, Ms Eisenlohr advises medium-sized companies on commercial law and compliance issues. She also works as managing director of the Beteiligungsfonds...
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 Axel Goetz is Partner at BEITEN BURKHARDT's Munich office and a head of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice group. He focuses on mergers & acquisitions, private equity transactions and corporate law, as well as restructuring and representation in special corporate disputes. His clients include companies in the technology sector as well as the machinery and automobile industry, recapitalisation specialists and other private equity investors.
Arnt Göppert is a lawyer and partner at Friedrich Graf von Westphalen & Partner. He has been working in the corporate law and M&A practice of Friedrich Graf von Westphalen & Partner's Cologne office since 2013. Arnt Göppert is a transaction specialist advising clients on corporate acquisitions and disposals, corporate actions and financing. His clients include owner-managed companies as well as international funds, listed companies and financial institutions. A particula...
2024 to date Partner at GÖRG in Hamburg 2015 to date Professor of Company Law at BSP Business & Law School, Berlin and Hamburg 2015-2023 Attorney and Founding Partner at Pier11 in Hamburg 2008-2015 Attorney and Partner at Taylor Wessing in Hamburg 2007 Attorney at Happ Luther in Hamburg 2003-2007 Attorney at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Hamburg 2001-2003 Research and Teaching Assistant at Bucerius Law School, Hamburg 1998-2000 Legal Clerkship in Düsseldorf 1992-1998,2002/20...
Otto Haberstock is a partner at POELLATH in Munich. Otto is a proven expert in legal and tax advice for investors, entrepreneurs, corporates, founders and management teams in M&A, private equity, venture capital and capital market transactions. With more than 30 years of experience, he is one of the leading advisors in the market for complex M&A, private equity and venture capital projects and thus continuously ranked among the top experts in his areas of expertise. He graduated from ...
Alexander Hartmann is partner at FGvW and head of our Berlin M&A team. His broad practice covers a wide range of domestic and cross-border transactions both for strategic and for financial investors. Based in Germany’s preeminent VC hotspot, his venture capital work covers the full range from early financing rounds to various exit constellations, including complementary fields of advice such as corporate finance and employee or management participation schemes. Alexander advises in ...
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