The Legal 500

Within Banking and finance, Plesner is a first tier firm,

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.

Within Capital markets, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Plesner’s Finn Lernø and Thomas Holst Laursen acted for Mansvell Enterprises regarding its DKK276m mandatory public offer for Cimber Sterling Group. Jørgen Permin advised DONG Energy on a £750m notes issue under DONG Energy’s €5bn debt issuance programme. Henrik Rossing Lønberg, Thomas Maaberg Hansen and Christian Kjølbye are recommended, as are Jacob Bier, Micha Fritzen and competition partner 
Gitte Holtsø.

Within Dispute resolution, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Plesner’s litigators ‘consistently prove that they can stay on top of technically complicated matters’. Practice head Torben Bondrop successfully represented SEB Pension in regard to the admissibility of certain evidence pertaining to a controversial insurance fraud case in the High Court. Certified arbitrator Mikael Rosenmejer is representing a Danish hedge fund in a Supreme Court multi-party class action. Frants Dalgaard-Knudsen and qualified mediator Peter Fogh are handling construction disputes for Pihl & Søn. Peter Wengler-Jørgensen, who is chairman of the Danish Arbitration Association, and Peter Schradieck are recommended.

Within EU and competition, Plesner is a second tier firm,

Plesner’s competition group includes practice head Christian Lauridsen, whom clients consider to be ‘top-notch for complicated issues’, and Bo Vesterdorf, a former president of the Court of First Instance. Lauridsen is representing Danfoss in the refrigeration compressor cartel investigations. Gitte Holtsø, who ‘really understands the competition authorities’, is advising A.P. Møller – Mærsk on the Danish notification of its acquisition of joint control of a terminal operator active in Russia, Finland and Estonia, and also obtained clearance for Ratos’ acquisition of Pernod Danmark.

Within Employment, Plesner is a second tier firm,

Plesner’s ‘knowledgeable, clever, business-oriented’ team assisted Azelis Denmark with a divestiture. Henriette Stakemann advised Sephora on employment aspects of its establishment in Denmark. Tina Reissmann heads the team, which was reinforced by Lise Høy Falsner’s arrival from Poul Schmith Law Firm.

Within Energy, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Plesner’s clients including Kuwait Petroleum, Chevron, and Siemens Wind Power. Niels Christian Ellegaard advises fibre optic network companies Nianet and WAOO; ‘skilled negotiator’ Jørgen Permin is advising DONG Energy on the London Array wind farm project; and Søren Stenderup Jensen and Finn Lernø are advising Nord Stream on the establishment of gas pipelines from Russia to Germany. Søren Stenderup Jensen, Ellen Skodborggaard and Christian Kjølbye, who is ‘good at team management and setting priorities’, advise Shell Danmark.

Within Environment, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Søren Stenderup Jensen heads Plesner’s ‘first-rate’ practice, which is acting in litigation concerning carbon capture and storage, advises on chemicals and life sciences regulations, and provides transactional support. Recent mandates include advising Nord Stream on its undersea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany; and state-owned Polish oil and gas company, PGNiG, on a project in Jutland. Jensen and Ellen Skodborggaard advise longstanding client Shell Danmark. Marlene Hannibal advises on planning, utilities and energy-related matters for municipalities and corporates including Novartis Healthcare and Kuwait Petroleum. Peter Holm Larsen handles contentious environmental and planning cases.

Within Information technology, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Niels Christian Ellegaard’s ‘responsive, high-performing’ team at Plesner advises IT services providers Avanade, Ciber, BMC Software and KMD, and corporate users such as NCC, Siemens and LEGO. High-profile mandates included advising Accenture on the Danish Travelcard project East-West Denmark and on its outsourcing agreement with TDC, and assisting MT Højgaard with IT outsourcing to IBM. Per Håkon Schmidt and Michael Hopp advise on e-commerce and data protection.

Within Insolvency, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Plesner’s 22-lawyer team is jointly led by Michael Zeigler and the ‘quick, responsive, focused’ Pernille Bigaard, who are permanent trustees of the Maritime and Commercial Court. Clients appreciate their ‘sound, appropriate’ advice. The group is involved in numerous restructurings and is handling the large-scale insolvencies of Sterling Airlines, Landic, Atlas Shipping, and Griffin Group.

Within Insurance, Plesner is a second tier firm,

Plesner’s 12-lawyer team advises on commercial, product and professional liability claim. Practice head and certified arbitrator Torben Bondrop shows ‘empathy and a professional manner’. He and Mikael Rosenmejer successfully defended Scandinavian Tobacco Company in the High Court against claims seeking damages for illnesses allegedly caused by smoking. Bondrop successfully represented SEB Pension in a controversial insurance fraud case in the High Court. Other clients include Codan (RSA), Tryg and Topdanmark. Søren Vagner Nielsen is a rising star.

Within Intellectual property, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Plesner’s six-partner group is recommended by global companies for copyright, patent and trade mark litigation. ‘Brilliant’ group head Peter-Ulrik Plesner, who is ‘second to none in IP court cases’, represents Eli Lilly, Novartis, AstraZeneca and Pfizer, a client roster that is indicative of the importance of life sciences to the practice. He also represented RASN (a subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines) against Power Stow in two cases before the Maritime and Commercial Court. Per Håkon Schmidt assists Danske Bank with Community and Danish trade mark prosecutions, while Schmidt and Michael Hopp are representing the Nordic Mechanical Rights Society in a test case instigated by DR and TV 2. Sture Rygaard acted for Levi Strauss & Co to obtain the first interlocutory injunction issued in Denmark with EU-wide effect, based on 
an infringement relating to a Community 
Trade Mark.

Within Media and entertainment, Plesner is a second tier firm,

Plesner represents film distributors, cinemas and film production companies, as well as computer, music, press and sports industry clients. Michael Vilhelm Nielsen is representing Chappell Music Denmark in breach of contract disputes. Together with Per Håkon Schmidt and Michael Hopp, Nielsen also successfully represented Nordisk Copyright Bureau in a pilot case before the ECJ instituted by DR and TV 2. Hopp also advises computer games developer IO Interactive. Gitte Holtsø is representing DR and TV 2 and their jointly owned company, Broadcast Service Denmark, before the Danish Competition Authority.

Within Mergers and acquisitions, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Plesner acted on numerous big-ticket transactions in 2012. Jacob Bier and Thomas Maaberg Hansen advised FIH Holding on its conditional agreement with Finansiel Stabilitet to divest the DKK17bn assets of FIH Erhvervsbank. Bier, Micha Fritzen and competition partner Gitte Holtsø advised new client Novo on its €560m purchase of 25.66% of the shares in Chr. Hansen Holding. Poul Flemming Hansen, Micha Fritzen and Thomas Holst Laursen, who is ‘competent and a source of good ideas’, assisted KIRKBI Invest and William Demant Invest with the DKK4.7bn acquisition of 50% of a 77-turbine offshore wind farm. Finn Lernø is ‘wise, experienced and always available’, and Christian Kjølbye, Tue Ravnholt Frandsen and Henrik Rossing Lønberg are also recommended.

Within Real estate and construction, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Plesner’s Anders Friis is advising SEB Pension on large development projects including a DKK130m education facility; on lease agreements with DONG Energy and Siemens Windpower; and on the DKK330m acquisition of a PPP company from A. Enggaard Holding. Peer Meisner and Leif Djurhuus acted on Nordicom’s DKK220m property sale to Elf Development. Peter Wengler-Jørgensen handles construction contracts.

Within Shipping and transport, tier 4

Plesner’s Jørgen Permin advises Nordic Shipholding on vessel deals, pool arrangements and joint ventures, while Micha Fritzen handles capital markets matters for transport sector clients. Practice head Peter Fogh represents Singapore Technologies Marine and TORM in shipping disputes, and Thomas Maaberg Hansen has acted for Dansk Skibskredit and Tankers Inc Holding.

Within Tax, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Plesner’s 16-lawyer group is led by Hans Severin Hansen, who is permanent adviser to the Ministry of Taxation and the only lawyer on the government’s Tax Commission. Hansen, Svend Erik Holm and Tom Kári Kristjánsson advise on direct and indirect taxation. Hanne Søgaard Hansen joined from Grant Thornton. The team successfully represented FS Invest II in Denmark’s first case on beneficial ownership. Standalone tax clients include Nykredit, A.P. Møller – Mærsk and Danske Bank.

Within Telecoms, Plesner is a first tier firm,

Plesner’s lawyers are ‘experts in the telecoms industry; swift and pleasant to work with’. Practice head Niels Christian Ellegaard is representing TetraStar and Damm Cellular Systems in a €50m claim against the Danish state concerning breach of the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) licence. Camilla Bonde also handles TETRA-related cases. Ellegaard successfully represented Cybercity against TDC in the Supreme Court. Michael Vilhem Nielsen acts for Eutelsat. Other clients of the practice include Brightpoint Europe, Relacom, Eltel, Vodafone, AT&T, and Sprint.