The Legal 500

Within Antitrust, tier 6

White & Case LLP is experienced in the pharmaceutical, machinery, food-retail, entertainment and service industries with Christian Rohnke and Börries Ahrens being recommended at this four-partner practice. Clients include Adecco and Samsung Europe.

Within Banking and finance Bank lending, White & Case LLP is a second tier firm,

White & Case LLP is noted for its ‘professionalism and commitment to getting the deal done’, with acquisition and real estate financing the cornerstones of the practice. Annica Lindegren is described by clients as ‘the best I have worked with on leveraged financing’, Julia Müller has ‘excellent negotiation skills’. Tom Oliver Schorling is ‘well connected’. Thomas Flatten is ‘competent’ while the ‘good to work with’ Leïla Röder moved to the Munich office at the beginning of 2008 to establish a finance team. The team advised the banking syndicate on financing for the acquisition of Breeze Industrial Products Corporation by Norma Group.

Within Banking and finance Project finance, White & Case LLP is a second tier firm,

White & Case LLP’s Alexander Reuter is noted for being ‘good at spotting the potential issues in a deal’, while Kai Kindereit provides a ‘very thorough analysis of every detail of the transaction’. Ralph Busch is known especially for his involvement in EPC contracts and ‘actively guides clients through the deal’. Busch, in collaboration with the London office, represented a steel producer in the Baltic region on the expansion and modernisation of an electric steel plant and on the conclusion of the EPC agreement.

Within Capital markets, White & Case LLP is a second tier firm,

White & Case LLP is ‘especially strong on the debt capital markets side’,and is making considerable strides in the market. Lutz Krämer’s particular strength lies in ‘structuring the deal’ and is ‘very good for really complicated transactions’, Jochen Artzinger-Bolten ‘communicates in such a way that can not only be understood by a lawyer but also by bond syndicates and originators’ and Benedikt Gillessen is a ‘deal maker who is always on top of issues when running a deal’. The team advised Barclays on the establishment of the German Note Programme, and advised Bank Austria, as international transaction counsel, on an IPO on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

Within Corporate and M&A Large deals, White & Case LLP is a third tier firm,

Clients of White & Case LLP say that M&A real estate expert Jörg Kraffel provides ‘tailor-made advice on transactions and is a business partner we can trust on legal matters’, whileCarsten Rodemann has the ‘ability to lead different teams of lawyers from different practice groups and jurisdictions’.The team has been enhancing its energy related, automotive and financial institutional sector experience. An enviable client list includes Barry Callebaut, Evonik Industries and EWE. The team advised Adecco Group on the €800m acquisition, including debts amounting to around €200m, of the Tuja Group.

Within Dispute resolution, White & Case LLP is a third tier firm,

White & Case LLP welcomed the ‘calm, thoughtful and truly international’ Patricia Nacimiento, who has considerable expertise in arbitration, to its ranks from Nörr Stiefenhofer Lutz. The team continues to represent institutional clients, with a projects team consisting of approximately 23 lawyers from all its German offices, led by Christian Wirth, advising German banks in connection with the proposed acquisitions of three large performing loan portfolios, primarily consumer credits, with volumes of €4.3bn, €1.8bn and €280m. The team structured and implemented the entire due diligence process, paying particular attention to the identification of potential risks.

Within Employment, tier 4

Karl-Dietmar Cohnen heads White & Case LLP’s practice in Hamburg. Clients appreciate the longstanding relationships and find ‘the team’s level of service is extraordinarily high’. A strong feature is the ‘availability without restrictions’ and the team’s ‘social skills combined with experience and know-how’. Clients include Allianz subsidiary ASIC and Edeka Group. Hertie instructed the practice on restructuring matters for department store chains with more than 4,000 employees, taking advantage of the firm’s restructuring practice.

Within IP: patents Litigation

Within IP: trade marks , White & Case LLP is a second tier firm,

White & Case LLP’s exceptional lawyer Christian Rohnke is described by clients as ‘absolutely outstanding’. Despite the lack of a big enough support team, impressed clients feel they receive an excellent service and choose the practice ‘due to the excellence of Rohnke in the field of trade mark law’. Deutsche See, Henkel, Unilever, and Volkswagen instruct the firm as do Hapag-Lloyd and ECE, with many clients using the firm as a one-stop-shop for overall advice on IP matters.

Within Information technology and outsourcing , White & Case LLP is a third tier firm,

White & Case LLP has two outstanding experts Jost Kotthoff and Detlev Gabel, who display ‘in-depth knowledge of how their clients operate’ and who have ‘particularly impressive negotiations skills’. The practice focuses on transactional outsourcing work. Dresdner Bank instructed the firm on the €200m transaction including the outsourcing of the management of banking applications to Atos Origin. Allianz Shared Infrastructure Services (formerly AGIS) kept the practice busy with a €400m outsourcing transaction with Fujitsu Services. RREEF, Xing, and WestLB are also clients.

Within Insolvency and restructuring Insolvency , White & Case LLP is a first tier firm,

White & Case LLP suffered the loss of Klaus Pannen at the beginning of 2008, who has opened up his own firm. That said, the team of ‘famous names’, including Sven-Holger Undritz and Biner Bähr, is strong enough to make up for the departure. Clients attest to the firm’s expertise and the practice delivers ‘the highest service level possible in the German insolvency and restructuring market’. Clients appreciate the team’s language skills and its ‘ability to work efficiently between various jurisdictions’. The case of Schieder Möbel remains an important instruction, with new instructions from Hertie and its 100%-subsidiary Hertie Warenhandels, where Bähr was a preliminary insolvency administrator. In addition, Bähr acted as a trustee to MC Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co Schwabengalerie, and FMP Sicherheitsdienste. ‘It is astonishing how the team reacts promptly to our numerous requests’.

Within Insolvency and restructuring Restructuring , White & Case LLP is a third tier firm,

White & Case LLP suffered a major blow due to the retirement of Klaus Pannen, who has practised at the firm for more than twenty years. The practice boasts Biner Bähr and Sven-Holger Undritz, who are mostly admired for their insolvency administration skills, where the practice enjoys an excellent reputation. In terms of restructuring matters, the firm is less active. The team advised clients on distressed M&A matters and cross-border restructuring, with Axel Bauer recommended.

Within Investment funds, White & Case LLP is a third tier firm,

White & Case LLP assists major national and international investment companies on introducing their products to the German market, by advising on various issues such as restructuring projects to listing exchange traded funds on the German Stock Exchange. Marietta Lienhard heads up the practice, which counts AIG, Allianz Invest, Fidelity and HSBC as clients. The practice regularly advises on marketing opportunities for alternative investments, queries regarding private placements for funds or similar financial products, and on portfolio management outsourcing and advisory agreements.

Within Media Entertainment, tier 4

Norbert Wimmer at White & Case LLP focuses on the media and telecoms industry, acting as an adviser on media regulation issues to carriers, such as cable operators and providers. Axel Bauer advised Premiere on the conclusion of a contract with Arena Sport Rechte and Marketing. Kabel Baden-Württemberg, O2 and UFA Film & TV Produktion are all clients.

Within Private equity, tier 4

At White & Case LLP, Andreas Stilcken has the requisite ‘commercial skills’ to be able to close a deal. The team, which is part of the corporate group, advised Allianz Capital Partners on its acquisition of the vending machine operator Selecta, with the deal completed in a short period of time. The practice also represents a number of clients in large bidding procedures.

Within Public sector, White & Case LLP is a second tier firm,

Clients praise White & Case LLP’s Hamburg office for the ‘good co-ordination of teams, short response times, and the ability to get the deal done’. Kersten Wagner-Cardenal is recommended, as is Norbert Wimmer in Berlin. The team advised Vattenfall Europe on the planned sale of its power transmission network, with further instructions including Veolia Environment in connection with the acquisition of Sulo. Deutsche Bahn worked with the practice on the modification of the railway station Berlin Ostkreuz. Christoph Arhold from the firm’s Brussels office, focusing on state aid law, has joined the Berlin team as Counsel.

Within Real estate and construction Construction

Within Real estate and construction Real estate , White & Case LLP is a third tier firm,

White & Case LLP’s renowned Frankfurt office delivers ’professional and satisfying’ advice, with Klaus Kübel displaying ‘very good response times due to an effective support team’. The practice is ‘knowledgeable and keeps up with industry developments’, and clients appreciate the ‘good value for money’. Endrik Lettau advised the Royal Bank of Scotland on the acquisition of a real estate portfolio from Metro Group, and on the re-sale of the same portfolio to UBS. The Federal Republic of Germany instructed the team on the sale of its shares in Vivico Real Estate to the CA IMMO group.

Within Structured finance and securitisation, tier 4

White & Case LLP’s three-partner practice is one to watch. Ulf Kreppel ‘gets things done’, Dennis Heuer and Nick Wittek are ‘very responsive’ and the ‘juniors are also impressive’. The team is strengthening its relationships with clients such as Deutsche Asset Management and NIBC, and has attracted new clients including Allianz and Dresdner. It advised GMAC-RFC in its fourth €570m German public true sale securitisation of non-commercial real estate loans.

Within Tax, tier 4

White & Case LLP’s head of department, Andreas Knebel, mainly advises clients on acquisition structuring and leasing deals. Key focuses of this stand-alone tax practice are tax planning, corporate succession and estate planning. Also, it has secured new clients in the real estate sector, which has led to an increase in its real estate tax structuring advisory work.

Within Telecoms, White & Case LLP is a third tier firm,

White & Case LLP is noted for the ‘knowledgeable’ Norbert Wimmer, who heads the combined media and telecoms practice. Wimmer advised Drillisch on the €320m acquisition of other mobile service providers. Client Kabel Baden-Württemberg instructed the team on various issues regarding the establishment of its triple play offer, and O2 seeks advice on a regular basis in key regulatory matters. Martin Hoffmann is the regulatory specialist in the team.