The Legal 500

Gorrissen Federspiel is involved in the rescue or winding up of failing Danish banks, and wins praise for ‘absolutely top service’. Practice head Michael Steen Jensen, who is described as ‘Denmark’s best banking lawyer’, advised on the DKK8.15bn rescue and transfer of the failing Max Bank to Finansiel Stabilitet under the terms of bank package IV. Clients include the Danish Central Bank and Finansiel Stabilitet. Morten Bethe assisted Nordea and SEB with the €117m purchase of Haarslev Industries. Tobias Linde advised A.P. Møller – Mærsk on its issue of NOK3bn floating rate notes under its €3bn EMTN programme.

Kromann Reumert’s ‘in-depth knowledge and know-how is on a level with international firms’. Finansiel Stabilitet is a longstanding client, which Kim Rasmussen assisted with the complex acquisition of FIH’s property loans. Practice head Jakob Bernhoft advised Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse on Welltec’s $325m senior secured notes listing on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Thomas Kaas acted for Nordea Bank Danmark on Nordic Capital’s acquisition of Sportsmaster, and Jens Blomgren-Hansen advises on international renewables financings. Clients praise Ian Tokley for his ‘energetic, solution-based approach’.

Plesner’s 20-lawyer team mainly advises borrowers. Jørgen Permin assisted DONG with obtaining a €1.3bn revolving credit facility for the London Array offshore wind farm. Søren Thyssen Valerius assisted RBS, Swedbank and Nordea with Viking Supply Ships’ vessel
acquisition financing. Thomas Maaberg Hansen was Danish counsel to Nordea Bank Danmark in Nordic Capital’s acquisition of Bladt Industries. Tue Ravnholt Frandsen is recommended.

Accura Advokatpartnerselskab’s Kim Toftgaard and Thomas Skjellerup advise on acquisition and property finance, derivatives and securitisation. Toftgaard, Henrik Groos and Jacob Nygaard recently advised SEB as senior lender on the financing of Illum Property. Key clients include Arbejdernes Landsbank, ATP and Nykredit. Jacob Nygaard and Susanne Harms are recommended.

Bech-Bruun advises various Danish and international clients on lending and acquisition finance, syndicated loans, project and asset finance, derivatives and structured products. Practice head Morten Krogsgaard assisted Altor Equity Partners with the financing of its acquisition of Ferrosan Medical Devices, and advised DnB Nor Bank on Promens’ refinancing. Other clients of the practice include Nordea Finance Sweden. Steen Jensen handles regulatory matters and Thomas Thordal Sevelsted advises on aviation finance and debt restructuring. Erik Malberg and Henning Hansen are also recommended, Eric Korre Horten and Eivind Einersen joined from Philip Law Firm.

Bruun & Hjejle’s practice is ‘excellent, thorough and to the point’. The team is advising Welltec on its $325m senior secured high yield bond issuance and associated $40m super senior revolving credit facility. Karsten Kristoffersen advised Jyske Bank and Sydbank on a real estate covered bond financing. ‘Highly skilled’ practice head Henrik Dahl assisted the Guarantee Fund for Depositors and Investors with obtaining new loan facilities worth DKK6bn.

LETT Law Firm P/S handles cross-border financing transactions for clients including Danske Bank, Nordea, and Nykredit, and also undertakes related disputes. Henrik Puggaard is representing investors in two high-profile class actions. Clients appreciate Søren Brinkmann’s ‘pragmatism and commercial understanding’. Finn Overgaard heads this ‘capable, service-minded’ group, which recruited Jens Krogh Petersen and Hans Madsen from Lind Cadovius and banking regulation specialist Michael Camphausen from Nordia Advokatfirma. However, the firm lost some banking partners as a result of the closure of its Kolding office.

Nielsen Nørager’s Thomas Weisbjerg and Jakob Mosegaard Larsen assisted HSBC with Danish Credit Agency (ECA) guaranteed export and project financing, while Weisbjerg and Jan Presfeldt advised Levine Leichtman Capital Partners and Carlyle Europe Partners on the refinancing of cross-border portfolio companies.

Hannes Snellman Attorneys at Law Ltd’s ‘talented, pleasant’ Mikkel Fritsch advises lenders and borrowers, and acted for Deutsche Bank and CVC on CVC’s acquisition of the Ahlsell group; and SEB and Danish Bake on FSN Capital’s acquisition of Lagkagehuset.

Horten Law Firm’s team is jointly led 
by Claus Bennetsen, who advises on debt finance and restructuring, and Jacob Kornerup, who covers equity-side regulatory work. The group, which advises lenders and borrowers, notably acted on the structuring of the 
merger between Fanefjord Sparekasse and 
Møns Bank. Nicolai Mallet has ‘solid business acumen and a strategic mindset’, and Lise Lotte Hjerrild is ‘a great negotiator with a strategic 
legal mind’.

Clients recommend the ‘capable, businesslike’ Philip Graff and his team at MAQS Law Firm for their ‘knowledgeable, high-quality advice’. The team advised Roskilde Bank and Nykredit on restructuring; and Finansiel Stabilitet, Calyon and Ulster Bank on loans to multinationals.

Moalem Weitemeyer Bendtsen advises on regulatory work, debt offerings and acquisition and asset finance. Dan Moalem, Claus Molbech Bendtsen and Henning Thomsen recently assisted Alpha Trust with a potential rights issues and advised John Deere Bank on a large framework agreement with Nordea Bank. Bendtsen assisted COIN with its NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen bond offering. Other clients include Saxo Privatbank and Hvidbjerg Bank. David Moalem, who was a lateral hire from Deloitte, ‘creates added value’.

Andreas Tamasauskas and his ‘responsive, hardworking’ team at Ronne & Lundgren recently advised a defaulted bank owned by Finansiel Stabilitet. Steen Puch Holm-Larsen, who is ‘technically skilled and easy to work with’, advised on the financing of the acquisition of three photovoltaic solar power plants in Italy. Michael Amstrup and Anders Kluw defended Løkken Sparekasse’s former auditors against a DKK275m claim by Finansiel Stabilitet.

Per Hald’s ‘dedicated, proactive’ team at Brandt & Lauritzen advised EFG Bank (Luxembourg) on closing its Danish business during EFG Bank Denmark’s acquisition by SEB and EFG Bank Group, Zurich.

Carsted Rosenberg LLP Advokatfirma, which has offices in Copenhagen and Frankfurt, acts as local Danish counsel on large-scale transactions, and recently handled a €500m revolving credit facility for Heidelberger Druckmaschinen. Michael Carsted Rosenberg 
is ‘extremely responsive and gives in-depth 
advice’.

Danders & More’s Troels Askerud and Majken Petersen assisted Totalbanken with capital raising and the funding of bank reserve capital. Petersen advised ALMC – Project Silver on loan restructuring.

At Mazanti-Andersen, Korsø Jensen & Partnere, Jørgen Kjældgaard’s banking clients include the Danish association of co-operative savings banks.