The Legal 500

‘Always a competitor to reckon with’, Clifford Chance has picked up more instructions on foreign deals such as acting for Triton on its acquisition of Israeli Raphael Valves Industries. The team’s track record in large-scale transactions includes advising Montagu on the sale of BSN medical, and acting for Permira on the sale of Iglo Group. The team also advised Bridgepoint and Aenova Holding on the sale of Aenova Group to investment funds advised by BC Partners. Practice head Oliver Felsenstein and Christopher Kellett are recommended.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s market-leading practice had ‘an extremely successful year’ and was again visible ‘in all major deals in the market’. It is adept at handling innovative deal structures, with recent highlights including advising EQT on its €1.8bn acquisition of BSN medical; CVC Capital Partners on the sale of a 62% stake in NYSE-listed Elster Group; and Oaktree Capital Management on the sale of its shareholding in Nordenia International. Ludwig Leyendecker is recommended.

Hengeler Mueller is emerging as ‘a crucial player to be taken seriously’, and has strong relations to key market players. Recent work includes advising KPS Capital Partners on its acquisition of Bosch’s foundation brakes business; KKR on the tender offer for WMF; and Melrose on the tender offer for Elster Group. Hans-Jörg Ziegenhain is highly recommended.

Latham & Watkins LLP’s broad practice ranges from advising large international funds to acting for mid-market investors, and the team’s industry-focused approach is proving to be popular with clients. Highlights were advising ABRY Partners on its acquisition of a minority interest in the e-shelter group, acting for Capvis on the sale of its voting rights majority in WMF, and advising investor Onex on the €600m takeover of KraussMaffei Group. Jörg Kirchner, Dirk Oberbracht and Christian Edye are recommended.

CMS’ large team has a strong private equity practice and is pre-eminent in the venture capital space. Signature deals were advising BC Partners on its acquisition of shares in Aenova Group, and acting for Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Wellington Partners and LSP Life Sciences Partners on the financing round for Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation. Udo Simmat and Martin Bell are recommended.

Gleiss Lutz has excellent market standing and has strong ties to major clients such as Blackstone, which the team recently advised on its acquisition of a 44% stake in listed Leica Camera, and on the subsequent mandatory offer and squeeze-out. It also advised Nisshinbo Holdings on its acquisition of TMD Friction Group from Pamplona Capital. Christian Cascante and Jan Bauer are recommended.

Kirkland & Ellis International LLP is ‘a distinguished private equity law firm’ with a strong client base across Europe and the US, and can draw on the firm’s outstanding restructuring practice as necessary. The team advised Gilde Buy Out Partners on its acquisition of Spandex Group, and acted for Sun European Partners on its acquisition of Kobusch-Sengewald. Volker Kullmann is particularly recommended for his leveraged buyout expertise.

Linklaters LLP acted for Macquarie on its successful acquisition of Open Grid Europe from E.ON. Other key matters were advising The Gores Group on its acquisition of ELO Touch Solutions, and assisting Paul Capital with its purchase of a hedge fund portfolio spread across ten jurisdictions. Rainer Traugott is ‘extremely impressive’.

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s ‘highly specialised’ team acted for Lafayette Capital Partners on its purchase of the alloy wheels business unit of automotive supplier BBS, and advised RHJ International on the potential acquisition of BHF-Bank. Peter Nussbaum, Norbert Rieger and Peter Memminger are ‘very good at what they do’.

P+P Pöllath + Partners is ‘absolutely outstanding’ for fund formation and transactions. It advised Quadriga Capital on its acquisition of Lapp Insulators Group, and represented Brockhaus Private Equity during the sale of 360 Treasury Systems. Andreas Rodin is ‘extremely skilled’, and Matthias Bruse ‘attracts interesting deals’.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP has a sizeable portfolio of longstanding clients such as AXA Private Equity and Quadriga Capital. It advised Equistone Partners Europe on its €210m sale of Ratioform to TAKKT, and acted for Apax Partners on the €240m sale of Versatel. Matthias Jaletzke is the name to note.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP attracted some top instructions in the competitive 
large-cap market. This included advising AXA Private Equity on the sale of HSE24 to Providence Partners, and assisting EQT Partners with its investment in Internetstores. Mario Schmidt is ‘a fantastic private equity lawyer’, and Georg Linde joined from Clifford Chance.

Allen & Overy LLP enjoyed a year of growth with numerous new instructions, including advising Patrizia Alternative Investments on its €1.4bn financing and acquisition of LBBW Immobilien Group; and Corestate’s financing 
and acquisition of a real estate portfolio. 
Michael Bernhardt and Hartmut Krause are recommended.

Ashurst LLP has expanded the team over the past two years, most recently with ex-Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP partner Benedikt von Schorlemer joining in June 2012. Recent highlights include advising Oakley Capital Investments on its purchase of 51% in intergenia’s Germany-based webhosting activities, and assisting Allianz Capital Partners with its acquisition of interests in Norwegian joint venture Gassled. Lutz Englisch and Nikolaus von Jacobs are recommended.

Hogan Lovells International LLP has seen some growth on the venture capital side and continues to act for key client Advent International. The team advised Weissker Group on its acquisition of the insolvent NDT Systems & Services, and acted for GFKL Financial Services on the sale of Universal Leasing to ADA. Joachim Habetha heads the team.

Jones Day has enhanced its market standing, particularly on the venture capital side. It advised The Riverside Company on its acquisition of KEYMILE Group, and acted for Goldman Sachs International on the takeover of DNick Holding. Andreas Jürgens and Ivo Posluschny are particularly recommended.

Noerr has recently attracted a number of new venture capital clients. Recent deals include advising Wellspring Capital Management on its acquisition of ThermaSys Corporation, and acting for Avail TVM, the buyout platform of Carlyle Europe Partners, on its acquisition of On Demand Group. Georg Schneider and Thomas Schulz jointly head the practice.

SJ Berwin LLP covers the full breadth of private equity and venture capital work, including fund structuring. The team acted for Star Capital Partners on its acquisition of Blohm + Voss, and advised Steadfast Capital on the 
sale of its majority participation in FEP Fahrzeugelektrik Pirna to NYSE-listed Amphenol Corporation. AXA Private Equity is another client. Julian Lemor is recommended.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is highly regarded for restructuring-related work, particularly through Gerhard Schmidt. It advised Summit Partners on its purchase of a majority stake in 360 Treasury Systems, and acted for Bregal Capital on its acquisition of 100% of Novem’s share capital. The team also advised Platinum Equity on its proposed acquisition of the insolvent Manroland.

White & Case LLP’s growing team has recently worked on major deals such as advising Cognetas on its sale of KSM Castings to CITIC. It also advised Blohm + Voss’ management during the sale of the company’s shipyards to Star Capital. Christoph von Einem and Andreas Stilcken are recommended.

Nikolaus Reinhuber is the key figure in Baker & McKenzie’s small team, which advised ACM Projektentwicklung on its sale of a minority stake in Leica Camera to Blackstone. The group also acted in conjunction with the firm’s foreign offices to advise AXA Private Equity and LGT Capital Partners on the acquisition of a portfolio of private equity assets from HSH Nordbank.

Dechert LLP provides ‘great business acumen and hands-on support without over-engineering’ deals. It recently represented Centre Partners Management during its sale of Hyco International. Practice head Federico Pappalardo is recommended, and the ‘sharp’ Berthold Hummel ‘translates clients’ needs into legal documentation’.

Dentons advised EQT Expansion Capital II and Roeser Group in two add-on acquisitions and assisted Flaregames with venture capital financing. Other clients include AXA Private Equity and BayernLB Private Equity. Holger Scheer co-heads the global private equity group.

Heymann & Partner Rechtsanwälte recently advised ACapital on its acquisition of Mustang Group, and assisted Montefiore Investment with buying car rental company CarDelMar. Thomas Heymann has an excellent reputation.

McDermott Will & Emery Rechtsanwälte Steuerberater LLP has substantial expertise in healthcare and real estate deals and recently advised H.I.G. European Capital Partners’ acquisition of a hospital and health service provider. PT Capital instructed the team on the supplementary financing of a venture capital firm. Konstantin Günther is well regarded.

Norton Rose LLP’s small team includes Nico Abel, who is expert in energy and infrastructure deals. It advised Hidden Peak Capital on its acquisition of shares in profine.

Shearman & Sterling LLP capitalises on its great ties to clients from Asia and the Middle East, and advised Sany Germany and Chinese private equity company CITIC PE Advisors on their joint acquisition of Putzmeister. Other mandates included advising Andlinger & Company on its sale of Lapp Insulators to Quadriga Capital. Roger Kiem and Martin Neuhaus are recommended.

Clients are ‘very satisfied with the work’ of Taylor Wessing’s private equity team, which has increased its venture capital work and is increasingly being instructed by foreign investors. It advised Wellington Partners and HTGF on the first financing round of AyoxxA Biosystems, and acted for Ventizz Capital Partners on its acquisition of a majority stake in Thomas Krenn. Peter Hellich is well regarded.