The Legal 500

Within Antitrust, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a second tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP thrives on Dirk Schroeder’s outstanding reputation as ‘certainly one of the best in Germany’, who is ‘able to handle unprecedented situations and to convince authorities and courts’. The firm advised The Dow Chemical Company on worldwide antitrust matters regarding its $1.63bn sale of Styron Business to Bain Capital, and Whirlpool in EU merger control proceedings on the acquisition of the trade mark rights of a German household brand from Otto. It also represented Medtronic in merger control proceedings before the Federal Cartel Office regarding its acquisition of Invatec, Fogazzi and Krauth Cardio-Vascular. Romina Polley and Silke Heinz, who displays ‘excellent knowledge’ and renders ‘very practical’ advice, are recommended. Clients highlight the team’s strong cooperation between the Cologne and Brussels offices.

Within Banking and finance: Bank lending, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a third tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s team in Frankfurt is ‘very knowledgeable’, and able to provide ‘very appropriate’ advice. A particular highlight of 2010 was advising TPG, Silver Point Capital, Triton, Perry Capital and Strategic Value Partners, as lenders in the restructuring of the Swiss industrial group OC Oerlikon. Werner Meier and Christoph Schauenburg are valued for their ‘reliable and approachable’ manner.

Within Capital markets , Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a first tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s team is praised for its ‘cutting-edge know-how’ and had some notable highlights in the equity capital markets arena, including advising BofA Merrill Lynch, Citi and others in the offering of €64.9m new preferred shares of Volkswagen. In debt capital markets, the team acted for the underwriters in the offering of $1.75bn notes issued by Volkswagen International Finance and guaranteed by Volkswagen. Ward Greenberg and Gabriele Apfelbacher are recommended, and Christof von Dryander and Thomas Kopp are appreciated as ‘extremely thorough’.

Within Corporate and M&A: Large deals, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a third tier firm,

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP advised on a number of complex and high-volume cross-border matters, among them representing Hong Kong-based ASM Pacific Technology in the acquisition of Siemens Electronic Assembly Systems from Siemens. Further highlights included advising Bâloise Holding and its German business units on the reorganisation of its German holding units, and Medtronic in the acquisition of German Krauth Cardio-Vascular, Swiss Invatec und Italian Fogazzi. Christof von Dryander is recommended.

Within Insolvency and restructuring: Restructuring Other recommended firms

Within Tax , tier 4

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s team, led by Daniel Weyde, delivers a ‘very good service’. It provided tax counsel to Citi and Deutsche Bank, among others, on the offering of €64.9m new preferred shares in Volkswagen, and also advised Wendel and Helikos on the €200m Reg S/Rule 144A IPO of Helikos. The team is strong in M&A tax and also restructuring deals; ESCADA recently engaged the team on its financial restructuring and recapitalisation plan.