Legal500

Baker & McKenzie

THEATINERSTRASSE 23, 80333 MÜNCHEN, GERMANY

Zurich, Washington DC, Warsaw, Vienna, Valencia, Toronto , and 69 more

What we say about the firm's legal practice in Germany

Banking and finance: Bank lending

Within Banking and finance: Bank lending, tier 4

Baker & McKenzie is led by Frankfurt-based Olaf Gebler and Michael Foundethakis in Munich, and has been handling several complex corporate restructurings in Germany. The team acted as legal counsel to the Steering Committee of BTA Bank’s international creditors, in restructuring over $2.2bn of its international debt portfolio, and advised on the creation of hybrid instrument for One Equity Partners Europe in relation to the financial restructuring of the VAC group. The team is praised for its ‘great advice’ and ‘significant assistance in difficult negotiations’.

Capital markets

Within Capital markets , tier 4

Baker & McKenzie played a role in introducing the standby equity product to Germany, and acted in every transaction involving it in the sector. Highlights for the team included advising SKW Metallurgie Holding in its €24.4m rights offering, and acting for Yorkville Advisors on a standby equity distribution agreement with Sygnis Pharma worth €10m. Udo Henkel and Nikolaus Reinhuber jointly head the corporate group.

Corporate and M&A: Mid-sized deals

Within Corporate and M&A: Mid-sized deals, Baker & McKenzie is a second tier firm,

Baker & McKenzie advises on restructuring matters and has a noteworthy international deal record, among them acting for Abbott Laboratories on the €4.5bn acquisition of Solvay’s pharma business. Highlights included advising Mahle on the acquisition of shares in Behr Industry and Behr Group, and Deutsche Lufthansa on the acquisition of a strategic interest in SN Brussels Airlines. Aviation industry expert Sönke Becker made partner. Udo Henkel and Nikolaus Reinhuber are recommended in a team with a remarkably low leverage.

Dispute resolution

Within Dispute resolution , Baker & McKenzie is a second tier firm,

Baker & McKenzie has a major focus on alternative dispute resolution, while product liability matters are another area of expertise. Highlights included representing an international bank in a €15bn shareholder dispute, and representing a German company in an ICC arbitration concerning one of the world’s largest infrastructure projects. A German group of companies instructs the team in a multijurisdictional arbitration regarding the dissolution of a joint venture. Günter Pickrahn, Jürgen Mark and Jörg Risse are recommended.

Employment

Within Employment , Baker & McKenzie is a third tier firm,

Baker & McKenzie has been involved in several high-profile deals, particularly on an international level, including advising General Motors in conjunction with the planned partial sale of Opel to Magna, and Abbott on the €4.5bn sale and integration of the worldwide pharma business of the Belgian Solvay Group. Restructuring advice is a key element of the practice, with Kraft Foods and Hapag-Lloyd clients. Günther Heckelmann heads the team.

IP: patents: Litigation

Within IP: patents: Litigation Other recommended firms

IP: trade marks

Within IP: trade marks , Baker & McKenzie is a second tier firm,

Baker & McKenzie’s well rounded team operates frequently at the interface of trade mark, copyright and patent law advice, with ‘superb’ Michael Fammler leading a group that has recently been able to attract a number of new trade mark portfolio clients. On the litigation and enforcement side, the team acted for Calvin Klein, The Body Shop, Corbis and Unilever. It acted for Accenture regarding a pending appeal procedure before the European Court against the registration of the word/device mark ACSENSA.

Information technology and outsourcing

Within Information technology and outsourcing , Baker & McKenzie is a second tier firm,

Baker & McKenzie covers a wide range of matters, including outsourcing, data protection and transaction-related advice. The firm’s ‘exceptionally strong’ US presence has been noted; it frequently acts for IT and technology companies. Schott instructed the team on a four party €150m outsourcing deal comprising 45 countries, and the team advised Xchanging on one of the first outsourcings of an internal back-office service provider in the banking sector. Christoph Rittweger, Wolfgang Fritzemeyer and Matthias Scholz are recommended.

Insolvency and restructuring: Restructuring

Within Insolvency and restructuring: Restructuring Other recommended firms

Private equity

Within Private equity , tier 4

Baker & McKenzie’s private equity team features the well-respected figures of Nikolaus Reinhuber and Regina Engelstädter. The group assisted One Equity Partners on the €250m financial restructuring of the VAC group, and Montagu Private Equity on the refinancing of vendor loan notes issued in the context of the Euromedic acquisition. The team is praised as ‘exceedingly knowledgeable’.

Public sector

Within Public sector , Baker & McKenzie is a third tier firm,

Baker & McKenzie maintains an ‘exceptionally strong’ regulatory practice, with Ulrich Ellinghaus and Joachim Scherer particularly singled out. Public procurement, planning and environmental law complete the offering. Several leading pharmaceutical companies have been represented in tender procedures concerning rebate contracts for pharmaceuticals, and the firm advised MAT on environmental and subsidy issues relating to the acquisition of two foundries. Hewlett-Packard and Eaton are further clients.

Real estate and construction: Real estate

Within Real estate and construction: Real estate Other recommended firms

Structured finance and securitisation

Within Structured finance and securitisation , Baker & McKenzie is a third tier firm,

Baker & McKenzie’s three-partner structured finance team is headed by Dietmar Helms and has a good market share in ABS transactions. The practice acted for several clients, including HSBC on Volkswagen Leasing’s securitisation of €1bn auto lease receivables, and also advised Landesbank Baden-Württemberg on the restructuring of its Weinberg Capital programme. Martin Kaiser is recommended, and Matthias Eggert is highly rated for real estate securitisations.

Tax

Within Tax , tier 4

Baker & McKenzie delivers ‘great advice’ at ‘short notice’. The team, headed by Christian Brodersen, worked for a US-listed pharmaceutical enterprise on the development of the first fast-track audit in Hesse, which enabled it to avoid large transfer price adjustment costs. The team also assisted a major international company on a rare and complex change of legal form from KGaA to GmbH. Clients appreciate the ‘competitive’ rates offered by the firm. Nicole Looks is recommended.

Telecoms

Within Telecoms , Baker & McKenzie is a second tier firm,

Baker & McKenzie’s main features are the renowned figurehead Joachim Scherer and longstanding client Federal Network Agency, which recently instructed the team in a €8.5bn administrative litigation brought by Quam regarding the revocation of UMTS frequencies. The team further provided regulatory and frequency-related advice to Iridium Satellite, and regularly advises HanseNet on contractual and data protection law matters. The instruction by an Asian market leader in consumer technology attests to the firm’s strong international ties.

What we say worldwide

Please choose another Baker & McKenzie office to view full details of what we say in that region, or choose from this list to view a specific editorial reference in context.

United Arab Emirates

Offices in Abu Dhabi

Legal market overview : Legal market overview

Australia

Offices in Sydney and Melbourne

Austria

Offices in Vienna

Azerbaijan

Offices in Baku

Legal market overview : Legal market overview

Belgium

Offices in Brussels, Antwerp, and Brussels

Bahrain

Offices in Manama

China

Offices in Beijing and Shanghai

Czech Republic

Offices in Prague

Germany

Offices in Berlin, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, and Munich

Egypt

Offices in Cairo

Spain

Offices in Madrid and Barcelona

France

Offices in Paris

Hong Kong

Offices in Hong Kong

Hungary

Offices in Budapest

Indonesia

Offices in Jakarta

India

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Italy

Offices in Rome, Milan, and Bologna

Japan

Offices in Tokyo

Kuwait

Legal market overview : Legal market overview

Kazakhstan

Offices in Almaty

Legal market overview : Legal market overview

London

Offices in London EC4V and London EC4V

Luxembourg

Offices in Luxembourg

Libya

Legal market overview : Legal market overview

Malaysia

Offices in Kuala Lumpur

Netherlands

Offices in Amsterdam

Philippines

Offices in Makati

Poland

Offices in Warsaw

Qatar

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Russia

Offices in Moscow and St Petersburg

Sweden

Offices in Stockholm

Singapore

Offices in Singapore

South Korea

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Saudi Arabia

Offices in Riyadh

Switzerland

Offices in Zurich and Geneva

Taiwan

Offices in Taipei

Thailand

Offices in Bangkok

Ukraine

Offices in Kiev

United States

Offices in Washington DC, Palo Alto, New York, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, and Houston

Vietnam

Offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Search News and Articles

Legal Developments by:
Baker & McKenzie

New rules due on assessment of workplace working conditions

Continuing our practice of regularly updating our clients on changes in the Russian legislation, in this legal alert we would like to inform you that as of September 1, 2011, the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation will introduce a new procedure for assessing working conditions in workplaces. 1 [1] Results of workplace assessments with respect to the working conditions conducted before September 1, 2011 (in accordance with the procedure currently in effect 2 [2]) will remain valid up until the next regular assessment.

- Baker & McKenzie

Legal Developments in Germany

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to

Legal Express Issue 1

We are pleased to bring you our Legal Express, which covers the most significant legislative changes in Russia in December 2011 and January 2012.

- Noerr
Priority rental rights in insolvency

Parties to rental contracts for commercial premises often agree priority rental rights. In practice, this concept is used to cover a whole series of legal structures. These range from fixed options for the tenant to a promise made by the landlord as a business policy that if any additional premises become available, they will be offered to the tenant. In 2010 the Berlin Court of Appeal issued a ruling on such priority rental rights in insolvency; the decision has recently been published.

- SIBETH
Dispute Resolution

Introduction Simon Bushell Herbert Smith LLP 3

- GSK Stockmann + Kollegen
Germany – Debt-to-equity-swaps: a reorganisation and takeover instrument in Germany

by Charlotte Schmitt, LL.M, GSK Stockmann + Kollegen

- GSK Stockmann + Kollegen
GSK Update: AIFM Directive approved by the European Parliament - Outlook and Preparation

Managers of so-called alternative investment funds will in future be supervised and there will be an extensive catalogue of obligations for selling and marketing alternative investment fund.

- GSK Stockmann + Kollegen
Getting the Deal Through/Licensing

Law Business Research, 2011

- Bardehle Pagenberg Dost Altenburg Geissler
Rome I Regulation: choice of law for contractual obligations

The EU Rome I Regulation (593/2008) of the European Parliament and of the Council came into force on 17 December 2009 (Convention). The Convention sets rules to determine the (national) law applicable to contractual obligations in civil and commercial matters. This Regulation replaces the 1980 Rome Convention and is especially relevant to cross-border businesses. The intention of the Convention is to provide legal certainty in cases where the parties have not expressly chosen the applicable law governing their contract.

- Avocado Rechtsanwälte
Restriction of the shareholder’s right to information

According to a judgment of the German Federal Supreme Court from February 2010, the general assembly (Hauptversammlung) of a stock corporation (“Corporation”) may resolve to include a provision in its articles of association which comprehensively empowers the chairman to reasonably restrict the time available to shareholders to debate during the shareholder’s meeting.

- Avocado Rechtsanwälte
AIFM Directive approved by the European Parliment - Outlook and Preperation

Managers of so-called alternitive investment funds will in future be supervised and there will be an extensive catalogue of obligations for selling and marketing alternitive investment fund.

- GSK Stockmann + Kollegen
New alternatives in real estate financing

Equity currently appears easier to obtain than bank financing. Due to the changes in the financial sector, the financing of real estate acquisitions or project developments is more difficult than before the financial crisis. Banks are now requesting more equity. In addition, following Basel III (a new international regulatory framework for banks), the demand for equity will grow.

- GSK Stockmann + Kollegen