The Legal 500

Within Antitrust, tier 4

Latham & Watkins LLP’s ‘excellent and highly competent’ team routinely handles significant cross-border cases. It advised National Semiconductors on international merger control aspects of its $6.5bn acquisition by Texas Instruments, representing Oracle in merger control proceedings relating to the acquisition of patents from Novell, and Finnish chemical producer Kemira Oyj in a €640m antitrust damages action. Ulrich Börger and Marco Núñez Müller are recommended.

Within Bank lending, Latham & Watkins LLP is a second tier firm,

Latham & Watkins LLP has extensive expertise in restructuring, and it advised J. P. Morgan on the financial restructuring of Almatis Group. Other highlights included advising Silverfleet Capital on the acquisition financing of Schneider Versand Holding, and acting for Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan on the financing of Liberty Global’s acquisition of Kabel BW. Andreas Diem is ‘extremely good’ and the Munich office as a whole is ‘very well connected in the market’. Christina Ungeheuer is also recommended.

Within Capital markets , Latham & Watkins LLP is a third tier firm,

Latham & Watkins LLP is recommended for ECM work and also has a good reputation in high-yield bonds work, but also maintains a reliable DCM practice generally by leverageing the firm’s ‘extremely strong’ US and London practices. It advised Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan in Elster Group’s IPO, and acted for Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, IKB, UniCredit, WestLB and HSH Nordbank on ALBA’s €203m high-yield bond offering under German law. Roland Maass is recommended.

Within Large deals, Latham & Watkins LLP is a third tier firm,

Latham & Watkins LLP has been busy with restructuring-related divestments and reconfigurations. Clients appreciate the firm’s US resources, and this helped it to win the instruction to advise Global Safety Textiles Group on its auction sale to Hyosung. It advised motor manufacturer Tognum as the target of a public tender offer by Daimler and Rolls-Royce Group. Jörg Kirchner and the ‘smart and strategic’ Dirk Oberbracht are recommended, and the team as a whole displays ‘strong commitment’ and ‘remarkable dedication’.

Within Dispute resolution , Latham & Watkins LLP is a second tier firm,

Latham & Watkins LLP has seen growth in financial services actions, including director’s liability litigation and arbitration, and also defended Ukraine against investment claims brought by technology company GEA in ICSID arbitration. The team also defended Clerical Medical Investment against several hundred individual lawsuits filed by policyholders. Practice head Ulrich Börger and arbitration expert Sebastian Seelmann-Eggebert are recommended.

Within Employment , Latham & Watkins LLP is a third tier firm,

Latham & Watkins LLP’s recent work includes advising on restructurings and it also has a good reputation for representing senior executives. It advised Airbus Deutschland on cross-border matters and SPIEGEL on negotiation of a new social plan. Stefan Lunk is an ‘outstanding personality’ and ‘great lawyer’, and Claudia Heins is also highly rated.

Within Litigation Other recommended firms

Within Information technology and outsourcing , Latham & Watkins LLP is a third tier firm,

Latham & Watkins LLP is well regarded for data protection advice, which is an area of expertise for Ulrich Wuermeling. The team also advised Airbus Operations on the development and implementation of an IT charter; GE Money on outsourcing contracts; and Qatar Exchange on the negotiations of information service contracts. It acted for Sony Online Entertainment regarding an investigation into a large-scale data breach.

Within Restructuring, Latham & Watkins LLP is a second tier firm,

Latham & Watkins LLP’s team is ‘fantastic without exception’, and its practice internationally is well regarded. The group advised Landesbank Baden-Württemberg on the restructuring of Schaeffler’s financial debt; RBS as administrative agent to the senior secured lenders on the recapitalisation of Synventive Group; and Wilmington Trust regarding Honsel’s insolvency. Frank Grell and Andreas Diem are well regarded.

Within Media: Press and publishing, Latham & Watkins LLP is a first tier firm,

‘A good choice for large international clients’, Latham & Watkins LLP has again been involved in some of the major litigation cases in the press and publishing arena. Among these, it represented New York Times in a dispute regarding international jurisdiction for publications on its website, where the team’s combined IT and media expertise was brought to bear. Other clients include Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Axel Springer, Fox Mobile, Spiegel and Dow Jones. The ‘fantastic’ Sebastian Seelmann-Eggebert ‘remains calm in any situation’.

Within Private equity , Latham & Watkins LLP is a second tier firm,

Latham & Watkins LLP’s strong cross-border team is recognised for its work for longstanding clients Apollo and BC Partners, and has recently added new clients to the portfolio, among them Nordic Capital, which the team advised on its proposed acquisition of Hyva Georg. The team also advised Capvis Equity Partners on its acquisition of Wittur Group in partnership with Triton. Jörg Kirchner does ‘a great job’, and the practice is ‘very good overall’.

Within Real estate, Latham & Watkins LLP is a second tier firm,

Latham & Watkins LLP’s highly regarded team includes ‘old hand’ Jürgen Hübner as well as an increasingly prominent generation of younger partners. The group advised Area Property Partners and Rida Development on the €266m sale of two department stores to DIC Asset and acted for Ivanhoe Cambridge on restructuring of a joint venture. Michael Jani joined GSK Stockmann + Kollegen.

Within Tax , tier 4

Latham & Watkins LLP frequently advises in conjunction with its well regarded corporate and restructuring practice, recently acting for H.I.G. European Capital on the acquisition and restructuring of Walter Services Group. Advising Bankhaus Lampe/Oetker Group on the intended acquisition of BHF Bank from Deutsche Bank was another highlight of the team that includes the ‘superb’ Stefan Süss.

Within Telecoms Other recommended firms