Find Lawyers in Hamburg, 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. 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...
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.
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 ...
Dr Stefan Duhnkrack has been a partner with Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek since 1996 following a six years’ position as general group counsel for Jungheinrich AG, Hamburg. He is leading Heuking’s Corporate/M&A Practice Group and is specialized in complex transactions for mid-size and big conglomerates, particularly in the mechanical engineering, automotive and energy industry (e.g. lead partner when Heuking represented clients in the auction process for RWE Dea in 2014) a...
Hubertus Leo has been an attorney in the field of transactional advice since 1991. He advises on medium-sized M&A transactions, cross-border private equity investments, venture capital investments, joint ventures, and family business successions. Furthermore, he advises companies of all sizes – from start-ups to small or medium-sized companies (SMEs) to listed corporations – on all aspects of corporate law. His clientele includes, among others, listed corporations, financial i...
Jörn mainly advises financial investors and listed companies on all kinds of national and cross-border transactions and generally on issues of corporate and capital markets law. He also regularly represents his clients in contentious matters.In this year's The Best Lawyers® in Germany edition the US publishing house in cooperation with business daily Handelsblatt® has recognized Jörn yet again as Lawyer of the Year for Venture Capital Law.Jörn studied law in Passau, Fre...
Dr Christian Ulrich Wolf is partner and Head of BEITEN BURKHARDT's Hamburg office and member of the practice group Corporate / M&A. He advises national and international companies and financial investors on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, venture capital transactions, restructuring and reorganization as well as comprehensively on corporate law. He also regularly advises on post-M&A disputes.
Ann-Kristin is a expert for „Mergers & Acquisitions Law“ with respect to advising on transactions from a tax perspective. Ann-Kristin's focus is on advising financial and strategic investors on buy-side/sell-side transaction tax matters, including (vendor) tax due diligence and tax fact books, SPA tax advice, acquisition-related tax structuring and (cross-border) corporate restructurings as well as post-deal tax integration and support. In addition, Ann-Kristin has extensive e...
Johannes studied law at Bucerius Law School, Hamburg, and at Université de Paris I – Panthéon-Sorbonne. His practical legal training at Hamburg's Hanseatic Higher Regional Court included stints at Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and in the legal department of Goldman Sachs. Before joining SMP and YPOG, he worked as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company and held various operational positions at the FinTech growth company Deposit Solutions...
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